Past Mistakes and Present Problems
by i am not a chipmunk
Summary: When you love someone, you let them go. Isn't that why they always say? But when another person is added to this equation, it becomes increasingly more difficult. Even for the invincible Freddy Jones.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Okay…Okay. I couldn't resist. The thrill of reviews made me come back. God, I finish one story and the next day I'm back again. (It's the next day since I've posted the end of Smooth Jones, Real Smooth, though I bet it'll take me a long time to get this up!) I just love you people. Anyway, here's my new story, hope you enjoy it.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 1- Meet Mr. Jones

"Did you get the files on the Smith Case?" Summer Hathaway asked her intern, Leanne.

"They're sending them over this afternoon. Though I still don't see why we bother, we know he's guilty…" She trailed off.

"We bother because it's our job to bother, and to prove he's innocent. Which he could be, we just need a plausible alibi." She defended.

"Yeah, but we're never gonna get it."

"Okay, why is that?"

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?"

"No, what're you talking about?"

"Brian Smith defiantly looks hot in orange."

Summer rolled her eyes, Lee was always thinking about this stuff.

"Yeah, Lee, but in case you forgot, he's in orange for murdering his wife!"

"Jeez, Sum, can't you ever have any fun?" She accused.

"Fun is for has-beens and wannabes, something I am not. Besides, fundamentals are the building blocks of fun!" She snapped, walking into her office.

-:-

"Summer? There's a guy out here who wants to see you." Leanne said over the office intercom.

"Does he have an appointment?" She asked, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Uh…nope."

"Don't send him in, he needs an appointment." Summer said. It was stupid, but it was also law firm policy. No appointment, no go.

There was yelling outside a Leanne told the guy he couldn't come in. Then there was a shrill scream of 'You can't go in there!' before the door slammed open.

"Bitch." A male voice whispered brushing off his shoulder as if he had gotten dirty screaming at her intern.

"Excuse me, but, I can't see you without an appointment. Sorry for any inconvience." She recited dully glancing only a moment from her computer to the tall blonde in her spacious office.

"Well, gee Tink, you'd think you'd at least _pretend_ to be happy to see me." He exclaimed in mock hurt, flopping down on a leather chair in front of her desk.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked, confused.

"Jesus Hathaway, and they tell me you're smart," he placed his feet on her desk and she stared at him in disgust.

She stood up and closed her laptop, glaring at the man.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Oh, I think you know what I want," he said, giving her a once-over and licking his lips.

Summer wasn't exactly beautiful, but she was pretty enough. After all, you can't wear the same boring three piece suites everyday, and expect much. Her raven black hair was always pulled back in a tight bun, making her seem much older then she really is, where if she were to let it down, she would look her true age of twenty-five; or maybe younger. Her ruby red lips were almost always curled into a smile, and her eyes were a dull brown, but when he thinks really hard, or does something to be proud of, they light up.

She pulled herself to her full 5'7" and stared long and hard at the man.

"Get out of my office, _Freddy Jones_." She yelled, putting extra emphasis on his name.

(I bet NO ONE was expecting it to be Freddy? COUGH. Right?)

"Ahh, so you do know my name! What gave it away? My sexy deep voice, or my charming good looks?"

"Neither actually, more like your pompous ways, and NO ONE else would put their feet on my desk." She snapped hitting his feet off her desk.

"Relax Hathaway, relax! I'm not here to harass you, I'm here for a business proposition. Though I am curious, do you still have it?" He inquired.

Summer's stomach turned and she felt like she was going to puke. What 'it' did he mean?

"H-huh? What are you talking about, Jones?" She looked confused, because well, she was.

"Don't pretend you don't know!" He exclaimed taking a step closer to her.

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. He knows, and all these four years, he hasn't come back!_

"I really don't know what you're talking about, Jones!"

Every time she took a step back, he took a step forward. Though it was a large office, it wasn't long before Summer was backed against a shelf of law books. She glanced at a picture of herself shaking the Dean's of Harvard Law's hand. She was valedictorian, and wasn't about to let darn Freddy Jones get to her.

"Stop, please," she pleaded.

_Great Summer, that was real intimidating. He's shaking in his Chucks!_ (AN: The shoe…you know, don't you guys? They're only the greatest shoes ever!)

He reached behind her, turned her around, and slightly lifted up her shirt, exposing her lower back.

_This is it, he's bound to see the stretch marks…_ she thought, looking at a copy of one of the books on the self, then closing her eyes, waiting for the bomb.

"You got it removed…" he sounded depressed.

"What the hell?"

"Summer, we swore we'd always keep them there as a sign we loved each other!" He yelled.

Then she realized what he was talking about; the tattoos. They were both equally drunk, and 'in love,' so they got tattoos. Summer's said 'Spaz,' on her lower back, and Freddy's said 'Tink.' They _had_ promised to keep them forever.

"Yeah, well that was before you walked out on us!" She screamed back.

"Us? Us, who?"

Damn, this day was not going well.

"The…band," she quickly made up an excuse, "and don't even lie and say you kept yours!"

He pulled over his black shirt to show his left shoulder blade. There, in green letters was the plain word, 'Tink.'

"Oh, it's- it's still there."

"Yeah, it is Summer. I would never get rid of it, why'd you?" He looked hurt, and it _almost_ made Summer feel bad.

But then she saw a picture on her desk of a cute smiling baby. Rae…she had named her the name Freddy had always loved, and that filled her with a new sense of fury. Closing her eyes tight, she willed Freddy to leave, hoping the expression on her face was enough. It wasn't, because when she opened them again, he was still there.

"You left me Freddy, it was a hard time, and you _LEFT_!"

"Hard time? Hard time, Summer? It was a hard time when the band was about to make it big and you would be as rich as the rest of us? Oh yeah, that's fucking hard." He yelled again.

"Why'd you come here Freddy? I'm serious this time, tell me, or I'm calling security." Summer calmly said, attempting to appear nonchalant.

"As I said, I have a business proposition for you, Hathaway- it is still Hathaway, isn't it?"

She nodded, and Freddy continued.

"Yes, well, my wife is filing for a divorce because she claims I got her daughter pregnant. Plus, she's trying to sue me. I didn't touch the little brat, she's just a whore! She got herself pregnant with some other man-whore," he explained.

"Yeah, so how am I supposed to help you?"

"Well Summer, you'd think you'd have figured out by now, _you're a lawyer_. You just have to defend me, prove I'm innocent, then, I'm off your back."

She snorted, knowing full well Freddy would never leave her alone now that he's found her again.

"Absolutely not. I won't do it!" She exclaimed.

"Why? You have a cute little preppy boyfriend, who'd leave you if you mix with the likes of me?" He mocked.

"Hardly. I just have…my reasons."

"I don't mix business with pleasure, if that's what you mean. Though it's not like I'd want to."

"Out!" She screamed, pushing him out the door.

"2,000,000. I'll give you TWO MILLION DOLLARS, plus I'll leave you alone. Please Summer, I can't go to jail, I'll die," He pleaded.

Summer thought of what she could do with 2 Million bucks. She could buy a house, and send Rae to an expensive school. Rae could have anything she wanted. She wasn't getting very much money from all the cases she's been losing.

"You swear, you'll leave me and…anybody else I want you to stay away from, alone. Right?"

"Yeah…if that's what you want."

"Alright, I'll do it. But on one more condition; don't pry into my personal life. If we need to work on something- we go to my office, or your place." She told him.

"Seriously, Summer, don't be so uptight. Live a little, have fun, life's a party! I'll be back here tomorrow at nine o'clock." And with that, Freddy Jones left Summer Hathaway's law office.

"Fun is for had-beens and wannabes." She weakly whispered to the empty office, sliding to the ground, feeling utterly pathetic.

A/N WOW! That took a reeeeeeallllly long time to type. Its long, isn't it? I think so! Anyway, I don't own School of Rock. And the line "Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun" is from the movie Uptown Girls. So I don't own that either. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and review please. Excuse any spelling or typing mistakes, I'm tired, I was in a car for 11 hours today. But, next chapter I won't have any excuse. I used some foreshadowing in this chapter. SO be ready for a not so surprise- surprise in the next chapter. Off to read the 6th Harry Potter. Love you people!

-Annie


	2. The Secret is Revealed

A/N Hey my little minions! I hope everyone is doing swell! (What the heck?) I'm doing very swell, and I'm bored, so I decided, what the hey, why don't I update? Yeah, well, now I am. The review replies are going to be at the end of the chapter, because I don't feel like doing them now! Well, here's the second chapter of Past Mistakes and Present Problems!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter Two—The Secret is Revealed

Three hours later, Summer tiredly walked to her car. Sticking her keys in the ignition, she turned on the car, and drove away. She pressed the radio button and classical music hit her ears. She had given up rock music the day she gave up Freddy. But now that he was back…

Summer turned into a house's driveway and walked up to the door. She took out the key and unlocked the door.

"Hello? Rae, Katie? You guys here?"

Walking into the living room, Summer heard sounds of the 10 o' clock News, and little giggles. A little face looked up from the T.V and smiled a big toothy grin. She ran over to Summer and wrapped her little arms around her Summer's legs.

"MOMMY!" she squealed happily.

(DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN, TO THOSE OF WHOM WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT!)

Summer quietly laughed and hugged the small girl back.

"Hey, Sunshine, how are ya?" she asked.

"Great! Mommy, Auntie Katie's letting me watch the news!" Rae excitedly exclaimed, grabbing Summer's hand and leading her to the couch where Katie was eating popcorn.

"Hey, Kate. Thanks again, _so much,_ things at work have been horrible." Summer leaned over to hug Katie before pulling Rae onto her lap.

"No problem, Sum. You know we love having her here!"

Summer lightly yanked on Rae's blonde ponytail. "Love to have her? Yeah, right!" Summer joked.

"Mommy! That was mean! Anyway, you love me right? You and Daddy knew I'd be wonderfully amazing, so you called the stork! Right? Did Daddy call you today? Auntie Katie said he should call you. But she says he might not because he's an asswipe!" Rae spoke in one breath.

"Rae Christine Hathaway! Don't use that language miss!" Summer yelled.

"Sorry! But still, why isn't Daddy here?" She gave a look of 'innocence.'

"Well, because he's an asswipe!" Summer exclaimed as Katie laughed.

"Ahh, speaking of darling Freddy?" Zack walked in holding numerous grocery bags and his son, Jacob's, hand.

There was laughing as Summer walked over to help Zack. She placed two of the bags on the table and walked back over to Rae and Katie.

"Thanks," he said, "And anyway, he's gonna call, trust me. I hear he's in town, he'll stop by, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, he already has." Summer muttered.

"What was that Sum?" Katie asked looking curious.

"Oh, I said, 'I wish I had JLo's ass."

Everyone stared at Summer like she'd lost her mind. And she very well could have.

-:-

A half an hour later, Summer sat in her own two bedroom apartment trying to get Rae to fall asleep.

"Mommy, when Daddy comes home, can I show him my finger-paints?" She asked sleepily.

Though she hated to make her daughter feel bad, Summer knew she couldn't play along and pretend Freddy was coming back.

"Well, Sunshine, you see, your Daddy, he's a good man, he's just…" she stopped not able to find the correct word.

Rae yawned, "Inconsiderate, boastful, hypocritical, immature?" she suggested

"Rae, I thought I told you to stop watching Dr. Phil!" Summer exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll try. But tell me about Daddy, what's he like to do?"

Summer pulled the covers closer to the small girls' body and groaned. "He loved rock music, he was always listening to it, he had a knack for getting in trouble-like you," She explained poking Rae's belly. "but most of all, his passion was playing the drums. Lord, your daddy was one heck of a drummer."

_Plus, he was excellent at breaking peoples' hearts_, she added in her mind.

Rae made a face, "Sounds like a real screwball!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, he is, he is." She muttered before kissing her forehead and walking out the door.

-:-

Summer paced her office for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. It was 9:15, and Freddy Jones, of course hadn't changed a bit, and was late. Whether it was fashionable or unfashionable, it didn't matter, because both pissed her off. When he finally walked in, he was exactly twenty-three minutes late. Maybe it wasn't that he was late, but he still casually walked in smirking and looking especially smug, that set her off the edge.

"Freddy Jones, you're late!" She huffed.

"Yeah, and you're compulsive." He shot back.

She glared at him and he glared back.

"You told me to be here-" she fought, always wanting to win.

"Forget what I said Hathaway! The first rule is there is no on-time and no lateness. Not with me. Though even saying that, if I told you to be here at nine tomorrow, you'd come at nine, wouldn't you? Because that's who you are, Miss Obsessive Compulsive. You can't stand to do _anything_ wrong."

She closed her mouth angrily, thinking of Rae. _'You're doing this for Rae, you're doing this for Rae'_ she thought. But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered, was she doing this for Rae, or so she could win Freddy back?

"Okay, let's just work on this case, alright?" she reasoned.

He nodded his head, and sat down at her desk.

"Right…so, your wife; what's-" Summer began.

"NO! Ex-wife, please, don't refer to her as my wife." he begged.

"Yeah, so what's her full name? I'm sure in the you were married you were at least sober enough to get her name…"

He glared at her. "I'm not _always _drunk, Summer." he snapped.

She looked skeptical as he continued.

"Michelle Alexandra Green, that her name though more commonly known as a hoe."

Summer's eyes bulged.

"You-You married ex-groupie Michelle?"

He looked pained, _'I would too if I married that girl.'_ She thought.

"Yes! I did okay?" He snapped.

Summer was finding it very hard not hard not to die laughing.

Freddy shot her a look, so she continued.

"And the problem is…the girl got sick of you-so she's divorcing you. But she says you "impregnated" her daughter?"

He shook his head yes and mumbled something that sounded like "hoe".

"You didn't though…right?" she asked him, for some reason nervous he'd say yes.

"Eww, no! Her slutty daughter's like sixteen! I'm twenty-six!" He exclaimed, disgusted.

"Slutty daughter, sixteen. Him twenty-six." Summer mulled things over.

"YES! So can we move on? I'm hungry, let's get something to eat! You like pancakes? My treat…" He asked her.

Rolling her eyes Summer shook her head. "Jones, we have work to do! I need information, you can't just expect me to magically know things!" She snapped.

"Summer! You poopface! Please, I'll tell you information over a nice steaming plate of pancakes!" He begged.

"Did you just call me a poopface? I haven't heard that one since the first grade!" She exclaimed, laughing.

"Yes, I called you a poopface! Let's get some pancakes!" He whined.

"You have a serious immaturity problem, Jones" Summer said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, and you have a serious maturity problem." Freddy grabbed her arm and dashed out of the office.

A/N Well, special thanks to Jessica Jelly for typing most of this for me! Even though I won't let her do the review replies, she won't make me a felt-friend! (Don't ask.) Oh, by the way, I don't own School of Rock. I don't think I used any other movies material in this chapter. Maybe I did… And if I did, it doesn't belong to me. Well on with the review replies.

Jaleo: Hmmm…well now you know about the baby thing, and it's pretty obvious who's the baby is. But, if you don't know, then I'm not telling you! Thanks for the review! Oh, and an elephant for you for guessing right!

Climbingivy: I'm glad you love this. And I'm _really_ glad the summary made you want to read it, because that's pretty much the point of a summary! Thanks for the review!

Nanners-77: Yeah, I've noticed that too. Summer seems like a pretty good lawyer type…so it just makes sense. Plus, if she wasn't a lawyer, well, there'd be no point in this story. Thanks for the review!

Olivetree1: Wow, you hardly submit reviews, but you do for me! I feel honored in a weird way…Yeah, it is sorta hard to keep both Freddy and Summer in character, but they're just such aaaaaaaamazing people, that, it's not so hard? I don't know what I'm talking about…You're right—that was weird of Summer to just accept the fact that Freddy would give her two million dollars. I guess it's sort of a mixture of her _wanting_ to trust him again, and that I didn't know how much lawyers normally get, so I picked something that seemed richly, and something she couldn't turn down. Take your pick…Lol. Thanks for the review, and rambling time.

Remussweetie: Yeah, I'm taking my time with the Harry Potter book; I'm like on page 295. Normally I buzz through them, but this time, I don't know, I guess I'm 'savoring' it. Lol. It's weird though…and I feel bad for Harry because he loves Ginny (as far as I can tell) and she's going out with Dean! NOOOOOOO! Anyway…Hmmm, yes she does! An elephant for you for guessing about the baby! He's not a criminal; his wife is just a psycho! Thanks for the review!

Dozengirl: Yeah, the Harry Potter book is great…and weird. I'm only on page 295 or something, so I'm not too far yet. But I know Dumbledore dies, and I'm going to cry when I read it, I know it. Thanks for the review!

Jess: Help; Seek it. Life; Get One. Have fun with your he-she!

Sweetcaroline: YAY! It's brilliant! There's nothing better then hearing things like that! Waiting for my new story, eh? Well it's here now, so you better keep reviewing! Thanks for the review!

P.S—Jessica finally made my felt friend!

Love you guys!

-Annie Bo Nannie the Bannana


	3. Pancakes With Satan

READ THE AUTHORS NOTE: ITS IMPORANT

A/N Wow, people. I'm impressed with the feedback I'm getting, so thanks for that. And about that whole, Michelle /Freddy thing, I feel incredibly stupid. Yes, if Michelle were to of had a kid who was 16 when she was 26 that would have made her 10 when the kid was born. My friend and I were reading through Chapter 2, and she pointed that out to me. We started laughing at how dumb I was to have not realized that when I was writing. And I full intended to change it, but then…I uh…forgot. Lol. So, I guess the only way to fix that without having to go back and repost the chapter after changing it, I'll just clarify it now. (I'm making this up as I go along, so work with me people! Math NEVER was my strongest subject, and it never will be!)

Okay, this is so unrealistic, it's funny, but I don't really think it's ALL that important! So Michelle is 3 when the band is born, (Remember, you're working with me!) and then she starts preschool, because I'm the author and I said so! Then the band turns 1, and Michelle is in her 2nd year at preschool. Then they turn 2, and Michelle is 5 years old, and in her first year as a kindergartner. Then the band turns 3 and has finally reached preschool, while Michelle is held back, and ready to begin her SECOND year of kindergarten. The band is then 4 and at their last year of preschool, and Michelle gets to 1st grade. The band is 5, and in kindergarten Michelle is 8, and in 1st grade because she got held back again! Then the band is in 1st grade, and so is Michelle because she got held back 3 times for first grade! Then they're in the same grade, though Michelle is much older, and she magically became smart, and never failed again!

Work with me people!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 3: Pancakes With Satan

"Hey, Summer!"

"Yeah, Freddy?"

"Go read the authors note at the top if you didn't already, and I mean it!"

"Okay, Freddy, I love you!"

(A/N I know, I know, I'm weird, but I like doing that, now go read the authors note, and here's the real chapter!)

Summer made a gagging sound as Freddy started on his third stack of pancakes.

"Is this necessary? I really, really, need to get back to work!" Summer whined.

"Work, shmerk! Eat your pancakes!" Freddy coaxed.

"NO!" Summer crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Ah, some on! Eat 'em! For me?" Freddy gave Summer the 'Freddy Jones's Puppy Dog Eyes.'

"Freddy, pancakes are just…so _not_ what we should be concentrating on! If you want to go to jail, go ahead eat more pancakes. 'Cause they certainly don't serve them to people who live in jail cells!" Summer snapped.

He continued to pout, but kept to himself. She could be vicious that Summer Hathaway.

"Alright, good, great, oka-" Summer looked for a place to start.

"I get it Summer, it's cool. You'll figure this out, I mean, you're good, right?"

"Alright, okay, even gre-"

"SUMMER!"

"Right…sorry."

"You know Hathaway, you're alarming."

"Yeah, I know."

They sat there in silence, an uncomfortable silence.

"You know Freddy, I really don't like pancakes, can't we leave?" She asked.

"NOOOOOO! NEVER!" He screamed.

People started at the two of them oddly. Of course, its not every day you see two adults arguing immaturely over pancakes. In fact, its pretty much never. They really needed help, fast.

"How about we get some pancakes to go? Then we can go somewhere else! _Anywhere_, but here. Okay, Freddy?" Summer pleaded.

Freddy groaned, "Fine, oh fine. You've won this time," He signaled for the check.

The waitress came over and eyed Freddy with extreme interest. It made Summer's stomach clench.

"Yeah, whatcha need?" She cracked her bubblegum.

Freddy smiled and gestured to his empty plate and Summer's barely touched meal.

"We'd like a box for this, and the check please." Summer said, glaring at the waitress.

"Tell ya what, I'll give you what you need if you give Mr. Studmuffin my number. Or I'll take his."

Freddy snickered, and Summer, if possible glared more.

"Look—Samantha, can I call you Samantha?" Summer asked.

The waitress looked weirdly at her before pointing to her nametag.

"My name's Jackie…"

"Yes, your point?" Summer smirked at her.

"Sure, call me Samantha." 'Samantha,' sighed rolling her eyes.

"Yes, that's what I thought, anyway, what's your problem? Do you really need to be giving your number away to low-life's like him?" At this, Summer jerked her finger at Freddy, as he opened his mouth in protest. "Finish high school, go to college, and _reach your full potential!_ Don't settle for waitressing at iHop your whole life, Sam! And don't give your number to strange men, who are 'stud muffins,' Capese?" (I THINK I SPELLED THAT WRONG!) Summer sighed after her long speech…or lecture.

'Samantha' nodded dumbly before leaving to get the check and box.

"Wow, Tink, I see you haven't changed as much as I thought!" Freddy exclaimed.

Summer laughed sarcastically as she flicked Freddy off.

Neither had changed much. Freddy was the same cocky, funny, sarcastic guy. Summer was still confident, stiff, and overbearing. The only thing they had in common was the band, and that had been over for four years now. So they pretty much had nothing in common these days.

Samantha/Jackie then walked back, check and food box in hand.

"Here you are ma'am…sir." She nodded at them both formally and walked away.

"Poor girl, you've deranged her!" Freddy exclaimed, laughing.

"Eh, she had it coming for her. Come on stud muffin, let's get going."

Freddy laughed at Summer's choice of wording. He paid for the food and left a tip. He walked to the door and held it open for Summer. "Thanks." She looked at him oddly, wondering where the kindness was coming from.

'Samantha' picked up the tip, staring at it in disbelief. Lying in her hand was a fifty-dollar bill.

"Wow, rich and hot. That psycho chick's lucky getting a guy like that."

-:-

"Freddy, this is going to be really hard, I don't think I can do it." Summer sighed.

"Ha, ha Sum, you unable to do something? That's the day I wear underwear to bed..." He rolled his eyes.

Summer stared at him looking disgusted. "You don't wear underwear to bed? That's _icky_ you weirdo!" She exclaimed.

"You know you want me babe." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You know Jones, one of these days your eyebrows are going to get stuck like that, and then, no one will think you're hot. So get your head out of the perverted ness zone, and shut the hell up." She snapped.

"Wow Summer, I'll overlook the fact that you pretty much just called me hot, and say, perverted ness zone? What the hell?"

"I needed something to get your head out of your ass. And I can't think quick."

"You're a lawyer! Aren't you guys supposed to think quick, stump people into saying what you want?"

"Well, yeah, but it's more than that. It takes not only quick thinking, but you have to be strong, confident. You're in control, no one else."

"Wow, and _I'm_ the cocky one?" He smirked. "It's cool, how you love your job. I wish I had a job I loved. Come to think of it, I wish I had a job." He smiled.

"I don't love my job." She muttered.

Freddy looked up at her face studying it. "What was that?" He asked.

"I said, I don't love my job." She spoke clearer this time, louder. "I DON'T FUCKING EVEN _LIKE_ MY JOB!" She screamed it this time, as if screaming could do anything but vent her frustration.

"Then why do you do it? Why do you do something you hate, when you have the resources to do any other damn thing?" His words were much more quieter than Summer's, but they seemed angrier, harsher.

"I was going to manage this band, ya see. Everything was on the line, it was what I wanted. Everyone was shocked, I had so much going for me, why was I choosing to manage some rock band? I had promise, not something unusual in my hometown, but it was intense. You were either somebody, or nobody. No in betweens. I was willing to go from someone, to no one, for some band that might not even make it big. I was torn between what I wanted, and what I needed, you see. Then thankfully, the decision was made for me, when the band's drummer walked out. I had other problems, so I left as well. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish to have another job. But you can't have a k—you can't be in my situation and be a band manager, or a teacher, or an astronaut! You can't!" She gave a _long_ speech, her eyes filling with tears she refused to let fall.

"Wow. That dummer guy sounds like a jackass. A hot jackass, but a jackass none the less." He observed.

"I dunno, a bastard maybe, but, a donkey insult might really hurt his self esteem." She smiled, and so did Freddy. His look became serious, and he took Summer's hand.

"Look, I'm—he, the drummer, he's sorry….for, screwing you up." He looked into her eyes, and leaned closer. He could count the tear drops now lying on her lashed. How had they gotten there?

He was the cause for that crying, and he was determined to make it better, take her pain away. Leaning closer, he could feel her breathing, and wondered if she could hear his heart racing.

He was almost there when she broke eye contact, and started pacing her office, that they were currently in. He suddenly felt lost, empty, he needed her eyes, to make him happy. _'But you broke her heart!'_ He reminded himself. And shit, it felt like she had just broken his.

A/N I have horrible news. I got my first ever flame for the first ever time, for the last chapter. It was HEARTBREAKING! Flamers are losers…especially if they just FLAME, and don't explain why they're flaming! On with the review replies…

Remussweetie: I'm glad you're doing swell. Cause swell is the best way to be! I guess I have to work on my surprise factor if you expected the whole mommy thing. Yeah, you should stop reading late, if you thought Summer was seeing her mom. Thanks for the review!

Anon: LLLLLOOOOSSSSEEEEERRRRR! By the way, you spelled stories wrong. "Stories," not "Story's." Think about it. And while you're at it, learn how to flame, because you're supposed to explain why it stinks, so, yeah…learn it, loser.

Climbingivy: Yeah, everyone seemed to like how Michelle and Freddy got married; I just kind of put it in there, not really thinking. It surprises me how many people thought it was funny.

Jessica (!): Wow. WENIUS! Stop using my dress up clothes, loser. And make me the damn felt friend! Lol. Get a life you wenius. Poonicker head! I'll make you a cinnamon cookie and give ¼ to you, and the rest to charity! Thanks for the loser review, loser.

Sweetcaroline: Yay, I'm glad you like it! And if you haven't read the authors not at the top, go do it NOW, it explains the whole 10 and 26-year-old stuff. Lol. (And if you haven't read it, shame on you! Thanks for the review!

YourMyOnlyLove: Yeah, thanks for the review!

Vaguely specific: Man, I hate those insanely evil computers! Yeah, I like to go for the original ideas…I guess. Lol. Yes, I love Rae, she amuses me. Which is weird, because I made her up…Thanks for the review!

SunRaeK: KASEY RAE MY DARLING! 4 year old, my butt you, loser! Kidding, kidding. I'm glad you're going to beat up that loser flamer. Because 'it' is a loser! LOSER! Yes. Thanks for the review, my friend, update yours soon as well, loser!

Jessica12345: Whoa…get a life you wenuis. And go make another felt friend!

Jaleo: HECK YES AN ELEPHANT! Yeah, and if you haven't read the first authors note (Shame on you!) it explains the whole Michelle having a kid, thing. Sort of at least…Thanks for the review!

Lady B. Padfoot: Yep, I explained all that in the authors note. Thanks for the review!

Sandy-Pandy: Yes, another story, and defiantly a Freddy Summer. Thanks for the review! And answer to your next review, pancakes are awesome, therefore, it has to be an awesome chapter! Thanks for the…other review!

RockDrummerChick: I'm writing, I'm writing! Here's an update, thanks for the review!

A Sinner Has A Prayer: Thanks for the review…!

Love you guys,

-:Annie:-


	4. Moving Out and Moving In

A/N Hey guys. Wow, it seems like it's been forever since I updated. I've decided to do the review responses at the begging of the chapter, because I don't have the chapter written yet, and I just feel like I need to do SOMETHING, that brings me closer to updating! Do people even read the replies anyway? I know I do when people write them to me, but what about you guys?

Marcy Bayd: Yeah, I'm not very good with the whole age stuff. Though, I did explain about Michelle's kid, here's the deal with Summer going to law school early. She…was smart! Lol. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Zepplin Girl: New penname, eh? I like it. Anyway, the little cat meaning, Puss in Boots? He was amazing, that little furball! (…?) Lol. Blah, when I was writing about the Samantha/Jackie-ness, I myself couldn't even stop from laughing. And that's bad, because its cocky to fine your own story hysterical. But I'm weird like that…Thanks for the review!

Lady Calira: Yes, School of Rock is the best movie, I agree. Yeah, that's why I like Freddy/Summer so much, it's unexpected, and just…weird. Thanks for the review.

Nanners-77: Wow, I really didn't realize that, but once you brought it up, I really agree. Summer was…acting strangely in the last chapter, compared to the first one. I guess it's just, possibly Freddy's breaking her out of her shell…fastly? Okay, that doesn't work. Well, I'm thinking in this chapter she'll be uptight again, though I've only written two pages. (Though I did slip in a couple lines explaining Freddy's frustration in the fact Summer can joke around, but then, she's evil again, just for you!) Lol. Well, thanks for the review, it helped!

Sod.Off.Bitch.You're.Killing.Me: Yes, yes, poor Summer. Okay, you're review confused me really terribly. Well, firstly, I know it wasn't a surprise, because I purposely foreshadowed that, because I wanted people to get the hint Summer had a kid. Just not necessarily say it open at that time. But, why would she name someone else's kid? What…? It's not someone else kid, it's her kid! You're review just…really confused me. Thanks for it anyway though!

Dozengirl: Thank you! I love Rae too; she makes me smile…even though I made her up. Lol. Thanks for the review!

Neo313: Yes, Freddy probably will freak when he finds out about Rae, so, YES, YOU'RE SMART! Lol. Thanks for the review!

WHAT? I beg your Pardon: You realize, you wrote that long review, and said not ONE thing about the story, right? Lol. I love you Jessica. Get a life! Excuse me mate? Alas, to be or not to be! LMAO. LOVE YOUUUUUU!

Jaleo: Eh, that's okay, confusion is good for the soul! Actually, I just made that up, but I feel wise! (Okay…not really!) You should write that down, and one day, when I'm a famous author, you'll have an original quote of mine! Okay…or not. Lol. Wow, thanks a lot, you just like, told me my whole story. Might as well not finish it, and just leave everyone hanging! HA! Kidding, kidding. Maybe in the end, I'll have Rae fall off a cliff, Freddy die in a tragic over-eatige of pancakes, and then, Summer shall commit suicide because she can no longer bear to go on! (…Or not!) I love you toooooo! Lol. Thanks for the review!

Cobainfan666: Yes, when I imagine the kind in my mind, she's very cute. Lol. Thanks for the review!

Vaguely-Specific: Yay, you know, there's nothing better then putting a smile on someone's face? Okay…maybe there are some better things, like possibly eating chocolate, or singing really, really, loud and annoying people, but still making people smile is the 3rd best thing! Hmmm…maybe Summer will slip-up about Rae, but after this chapter, I doubt that'll be necessary! (Hint, hint, are you REALLY anticipating it now?) Yay for karma, boo for loser flamers! Lol. Thanks for the review!

ButterflyBlonde: Yes, hot people can be sensitive too you know! Namely Freddy…because he's hot, and sensitive! YAY! Thanks for the review!

Cupid's Bride: You're my favorite. I don't know what you're my favorite of, but I love you. Long reviews make me feel giddy inside! Lol. Yay, now I know how to spell Capisce now! But, I knew it was in the right context, because they say it in Full House all the time! (Have you ever seen that show…it's great! Lol.) No, you're flaming problem doesn't make you a bad person! Though, I must say, it's more fun to flame, then to review them! Yay, you understand the point I was bringing across with Michelle perfectly! Lol. Yay, Freddy/Summer is the best! So, here's to Mike White, for being an amazing dude, and writing School of Rock! Lol. Thanks for the review!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 4- Moving out and Moving In…and Other Things

"We hope your stay at the Plaza is an enjoyable, relaxing one." The bellhop (A/N That's what they're called, right?) droned onto Freddy.

"Room service, is available at all times, as well as the front desk. Please, don't hesitate to call if in need of assistance."

"Yeah, thanks." Freddy absentmindedly handed the man a tip, and marveled at his suite.

He had barely managed to snag it. Apparently, it was Fashion Week, in New York City, and very hard to find an available room, let alone suite, in a hotel.

Freddy sighed contentedly as he flopped onto the king sized bed, and the bellhop slipped out of the room. Sure, it wasn't necessary for him to have a suite if he was staying by himself, but Freddy liked to go all out. He really wasn't _as_ rich as he made himself seem, he really just liked to spend money he didn't exactly have. It was his parents'…

Walking to the mini-bar Freddy mulled over his day with Summer. Damn that girl confused him. She's hot, she's cold, she's uptight, she's joking around. Something was obviously bothering her, but what, Freddy didn't know. He got out a beer, and took a swig. _Might as well start early,_ he thought dryly.

He picked up his black pocketbook and picked up the phone.

_Nothing more fun then calling up a bunch of babes, getting piss drunk, and trashing a place that you don't have to clean. _He thought triumphantly.

-:-

Several hours later Summer woke to a strange noise in her apartment. "Rae?" she called out, assuming it was the small girl creeping into her room after a bad dream.

When there was no answer, Summer got worried. Then she heard jiggling and the apartment door falling open.

She jumped put of bed, tiptoed into the kitchen, and grabbed a pan. In the living room, she heard a hoarse voice cry out, "Take that you heathen door!"

In one swift movement Summer jumped from her hiding spot behind the counter, and hit the intruder in the…nether regions. (She figured the head was _almost_ too cruel.)

The man fell onto the floor, only a small, 'oof,' sound escaping from his lips.

"Hathaway! Jesus, you could have damaged me eternally!" He was doubled over in pain, and the words came out as a gasp, but there was no mistaking that voice.

"Freddy Jones! It's two A.M., what are you doing in my house? Better yet, how'd you _get_ in my house?" She snapped, turning on the light.

He winced, and blinked, adjusting to the light. "You keep the key under the welcome mat? Seriously Summer, do you know how easy it'd be for a robber to get in your apartment? You're gonna need a new hiding spot. Anyway… can I crash here for the night? It's a long story, I'll explain later. Please?" He begged.

"No." Summer spoke firmly, though the emotions playing on her face suggested a different answer.

"Come on, Hathaway! I'll sleep on the couch! I won't even be here long, a week, tops." He was now pleading, as well as begging. (A/N Though technically, they're the same thing.)

"A week? That's a long time, Jones! And besides, look around. Do you see a couch here?

It was then Freddy took a moment to glance around Summer's living room. It was unnaturally clean. There was a TV propped onto a shelf that had various books on it. A large wooden chair sat next to a small Dora the Explorer table and matching chairs. (A/N I have to stop with these author's notes, but, I just wanted to say, Dora the Explorer is the amazingest thing ever!) Though to the left there was a toy box, Freddy thought nothing of the kid things. He figured Summer was either trying to get in touch with her inner-child, or his alcohol intake had left him oblivious.

Though it was true…there was no couch. No form of comfortable seating arrangements at all.

"How can you not have a couch?" He questioned.

Summer looked a bit sheepish as she answered this. "Well, I just moved here not too long ago, and… I've been busy. There hasn't been much time for furniture shopping. "

"Well…" Freddy looked at her hopefully.

"I, uh, well, I suppose you could stay here. For a night…on the floor." She hesitatingly concluded.

Freddy smiled and muttered, "Excellent," before all of Summer's words sunk in.

"The floor? Oh no, no, no, NO, I think you heard me wrong. When I said I needed somewhere to stay, I meant somewhere comfortable, not the floor." He explained.

"Oh, well, you see Mr. Jones, the floor is so much more comfortable then, say, the _streets_." Summer smirked mockingly.

"You're absolutely right!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. "But, don't you have carpet?" He asked, whining.

"Sure I do…in my room."

"Perfect! I'll settle for the carpeted floor in your room!"

"I guess that-"

"Splendid! Now, direct me to your room, before you gain sanity and change your mind!" he cut her off.

"Hold it! I distinctly remember you telling me you sleep in the…you know…"

"A bed?" Freddy supplied.

"No." Summer rolled her eyes.

"On top of the blankets, because I do tend to do that!"

"No!" Summer snapped seemingly irritated.

"In the nude?" He asked.

"Yes!" Summer exclaimed.

"Sum, have you really become so prude, you can't say the word, 'naked?'"

"Well…anyway, you have to wear clothes!"

"Hmm, I suppose I could." Freddy agreed.

"Okay, well, my rooms this way." She said, walking back through the kitchen.

"Here's the kitchen, that's the bathroom, the closet," she stopped here and retrieved blankets for Freddy, "and my room," She concluded.

"What rooms that?" He gestured to a pink door on the other end of the hall.

"Oh. That? That's just…another closet." She quickly informed him, while pushing him into her room.

Summer set up the blankets on the floor at the foot of her bed. She climbed into her still warm bed, and threw Freddy a pillow. "Sleep good," she whispered.

"Yeah, sleep good on the _floor_, that's likely." He snapped sarcastically.

Summer chose to ignore him and attempted to fall asleep. Twenty minutes later Freddy called out Summer's name. When there was no answer he smirked mischievously, and picked himself up off the floor, and climbed onto Summer's bed, believing himself to be the king of stealth ness.

"Fredrick David Jones, if you're so desperate to sleep in a bed, why don't you go home to your whore _Michelle_? I bet there's a place for you there…" she snapped sleepily.

"Damn…I thought you were sleeping! I was only going to sleep over here on the _opposite side_ of the bed!" He sounded hopeful, thinking she was so tired, she'd agree.

"Freddy, get on the floor, and go to sleep." She groaned.

"Fine, oh fine. But if I get cold, I'm coming up!"

"No…you're not."

Freddy continued to complain but was soon back on the ground, asleep.

(A/N I was going to end it here, but I thought that was too nice, I needed a cliffy.)

-:-

The next morning Freddy awoke to a weight on his stomach and a sharp jabbing on his arm.

Opening his eyes, he nearly screamed at what he saw. There was a girl toddler, sitting on his stomach, and she was the splitting image of him.

"Finally, my arm was gonna fall _off _from poking you for so long!" The child whined, sounding a lot like Freddy as well.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I think the more important question would be…WHO ARE YOU? And why did you and Mommy have a sleepover without me?" Her eyes filled with tears, though they were obviously fake.

"Y-Your…mommy?" Freddy stuttered.

"Rae Christine, get off of him, _now_!" Summer screamed, horrified. There was a mad dash as each of them situated themselves, both of them afraid of the way Summer was screaming.

"Mommy? Is he your boyfriend?" She giggled. "I like you having a boyfriend! You've never had one before have you? He looks like me, doesn't he mommy? Is that why he's your boyfriend, does he remind you of me?" The girl smiled, and giggled some more.

"Freddy, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking when I agreed to let you stay here. I thought Rae wouldn't be home until later…she was with Katie. Just, just forget it happened-" Summer spoke in a rush.

"Wait, my daddy's name is Freddy! Are you my daddy?" The small girl of maybe five years old looked so hopeful and excited. It broke Summer's heart to know that she just spoke the secret she's been hiding for five years.

A/N Well, that's it. The secrets pretty much out. I think this chapter's horrible, but I've been feeling bad for not updating, so I had to do something. I don't know how often I'll be updating now, because school starts soon, and I have volleyball everyday. Of course, I'll still update, though, possibly not on a weekly basis. I'll try and get chapter5 up before school. Anyway, sorry for any mistakes, in grammar or typing/spelling. In the next chapter I'll be explaining why Freddy 'left' the hotel. Review if you want, though I'd prefer if you did anyway. Just drop a small line. Even if it's a bad review…I suppose. Love you guys; hope you liked the chapter even though I didn't.

0o0o0o0oAnnieo0o0o0o0


	5. I Guess It's Called A Falling Out

A/N Wow, I'm sorry guys, it's been while since I've updated. The first week of school was pretty hectic, and I had volleyball practice after, every day. I think we should blame it on my locker, because I could never get that damn thing open! Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and on to the review replies I'm going to attempt to make short, because, well, I need to get this chapter up. The first reply will be to one of my very bestest friends Kasey Rae, (Who I based Rae off of.) because I forgot to do her review reply on the last chapter, so now I have to do double. Sorry Kase! Lol.

Kasey Raeeeeeeeeeee: Hmm, well, yes, I hope no more losers flame me. That would pretty much suck! You make beautiful felt friends, and don't you forget it! Thanks for the review, I love you!

Sod.off.bitch.you're.killing.me: Ha, yes, you confused me, but it doesn't take much to do that, so don't worry. Thanks for the review!

Zepplin Girl: Yes, I just leave you like that because; I'm sweet like that! Lol. Thanks for the review.

Imabadbadman: …Thank you?

Nanners-77: Whew, it's better, I was worried about that. Thanks for the review!

SuperSlinkyBerliner: Yes…yes? I think Rae is cute too, thanks for the review.

Climbingivy: Yay, you can picture Rae, so I guess I'm describing her well! Thanks for the review.

Loza: Ur da biggest loza in da world. 2 bad u a loza, maeb peeps wood lyke u if u wern! O well. Tanks 4 da review! (LMAO!)

Jaleo: Wow, I've never been told anything I've done was incredibly cool, so, cheers! Lol. Thanks for the review! I LOVE YOU TOOO! Lol.

Dozengirl: Okay, I didn't exactly update ASAP, but, at least I didn't wait months to update…it was only, like, a week or something! Thanks for the review!

Olivetree1: Hmm, good structure? YES, MY STORY HAS GOOD STRUCTURE! That makes me happy, for some unexplainable reason! Thanks for happiful review! (You know…I made that word up…I think!)

Vaguely Specific: HAHHHAIUSHGIPHFHPIODFUG, you fell out of your chair, while reading MOI story! Wow. I'm honored. Not maybe people will fall out of their chairs for me! (What the heck am I talking about?) Thanks for the review.

Krystal: GAH, KATIE/FREDDY! Excuse my while I BARF. Okay, I'm back. Thanks for the review; I'm glad my story entertains you!

Xx Al La Fin To The Max xX: Thanks!

Me: Um…ahem, WOW. In regards to: But I do think that if Miranda Cosgrove (aka Summer) and Kevin Clark (aka Freddy) knew about this, they'd be, so to speak, rather shocked! Well, you see, the movie, you know, School of Rock, the one this story is based off of, well, it has NOTHING to do with Clark and Cosgrove…it's Summer and Freddy. Second of all, I have a friend, and her parents have a TEWNTY YEAR AGE DIFFERENCE, and you're freaking out over a four-year age difference? My story is rated for the language, and for no other reason, and if it offends you, I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. And I'm sorry, but I just read you review and I, well, it made me really want to laugh. And if that's harsh, I suppose it's a harsh world. Thanks for the…umm…review.

School of Rock no. 1 fan: Freddy and Summer ARE made for eachother, silly! Lol. Thanks for the review.

Talon05: Thanks!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 5- I guess it's called a falling out. (That line belongs to Yellowcard, its in one of their songs.) Those we're SHORT replies!

"I-uh, well, I don't think so…" Freddy gapped at the toddler.

She couldn't be his, after all, Summer would have told him if he had fathered a child. Right?

"Rae, why don't you go over to Mrs. Oliver's across the hall, andwatch some cartoons with Paige and Jason, okay?" Summer instructed her.

"Mommy, I wanna stay here with you guys!" Rae pouted.

"Rae, go, now." Summer put her face in her hands and sighed.

"Don't worry Daddy, I don't think Mommy will _actually_ kill you." She leaned over, kissed Freddy's cheek, and skipped out happily.

Freddy put his hand to his cheek and frowned. "She's not…mine, is she?"

Summer mumbled something incoherent.

"Summer? Seriously, I mean, this is just ridiculous!" He exclaimed.

She mumbled again, and Freddy became uneasy.

"What?"

"OF COURSE SHE'S YOURS DAMNIT!" Summer screamed shrilly. (A/N Ohhhh, mini alliteration!)

"That-she's…Rae's my daughter?"

"Yes, okay, she is!" Summer cried, dreading what she knew was inevitable.

"You mean I've had a daughter for years now, and you never told me?" he accused.

"No, I didn't."

"When? What's her birthday? When'd it happen? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" he screamed, his voice getting louder with each word.

"I didn't think you'd care." She shot back coldly.

"Not care? Jesus, Summer, I have a kid in this world, and you didn't even tell me." He stood up and started pacing.

"Yeah, Freddy, I was supposed to tell you? And when would I have done this, before, or after you left?" she yelled.

"You could've called!"

"Called what? You left, and got a new cell, no one could reach you. It was like you fell of the face of the earth, how was I supposed tocall you?"

"By pigeon carrier for God's sake, I don't know! You should have found a way, though."

"Oh, so this is my fault? That's fine, blame it on me, it's obvious I'm the one who's at fault here." She threw her arms up in mock surrender.

"How far along were you when I left?" he asked, studying her closely.

"About three or so months."

"Well then why didn't you tell me then? You had to have known. You could have told me, damn it." He was desperate, grasping for any excuse for Summer to feel bad.

"Because…" Summer started.

"Because why?"

"Because I was scared, okay?" She screamed.

"Scared of what?" He was incredulous. Her, scared?

"Do you know how people looked at me, what they said about me when you were gone? Before I got pregnant, I was Summer Hathaway, that smart girl. But then the talk started. I wasn't, 'Summer Hathaway the Smart Girl,' anymore. I was, 'That girl who got knocked up, and she's not even married.' I was no one. Just the new town whore. Not that it'd be better if they knew you were the father, probably worse. But you know me, I care to much what people think of me."

Freddy sat down and buried his head in his arms.

"How am I supposed to handle this? I have to move in! Or, or something! I mean, I can't have you supporting her alone. I-"

"Freddy, no. I've been fine these past five years, I don't need help now. Besides, you promised, when the case is over, you're gone."

"Promises are made to be broken." He informed her.

"Oh, kind of like how you promised you'd love me and never leave me? I guess some promises just are meant to be broken. But not this one, you've got to leave. Why'd I _ever_ agree to do this anyway?" The first words, she spoke in a harsh tone, but as she finished her statement, she was simply whispering to herself.

"Summer! Jesus, are you gonna hold that against me forever?" He yelled.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to just forget it? I guess since I'm forgetting about you deserting me, I'll just go ahead and forget I ever even _met_ you!"

"Really Summer? Are you _really _going to do that? To Rae? To _yourself_? You can deny it all you want, but try and say it to my face that you _truly_, _madly_, _deeply _want me to go. Go ahead." He taunted.

She hesitated a moment before starting, " I TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY, want you to leave me, and my daughter alone, Fredrick Jones."

"Hold on, you mean the reason you hate me is because I left you, and now, I'm back, and want to stay, but you want me gone?" Freddy asked.

She nodded. "I hate you, Freddy." She whispered.

"You know what Summer? I used to think you were strong, bold, you believe in yourself…you were different. But now I see it. You're no different; you're just the same as everyone else. And you know what, you're pretty much pathetic."

Freddy stormed out of the apartment, not knowing where he was going, or how he was getting there, but he hoped it was far away from lawyers, and cute five year-old girls with blonde ringlets.

-:-

Inside, Summer collapsed onto her bed in a fit of sobs. And the worst part was, she couldn't hate him. She was already expending too much energy on loving him. And the harder she tried to hate him, the more she felt she loved him.

As Summer cried, she was unaware to the fact that outside of the door, a small child stood, staringcompletely bewildered after the storming figure of her father. She took a last glance at her Mom, sobbing on her bed, and charged after her father. Hopefully, he wasn't planning on crossing the street, because she wasn't allowed to do that!

A/N Whew. 19 days since an update, and here I am. Well, dramatic chapter or what! I know, you're probably thinking, "ANNIE COULD YOU GET MORE PREDICTABLE?" And actually, the answer is yes, I can. Well, hope you enjoyed that chapter. I don't really know if I did, so I'll leave it for you to decide. Thanks for reading…and reviewing…(!) Lol. By the way, don't own school of rock. Which I'm sure you know. And did anyone happen to catch the last part? If not, Rae's going to follow Freddy and…I actually don't know. This is completely different from what I have wrriten down, so, this was spur of the moment. Anywho. I'll try and update soon, if I get reviews! Love you, losers!

-I am not a chipmunk.

By the way, PLEASE DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW SHORT IT WAS. This was the best I could do…


	6. Of Being Lost and Being Found

A/N Well, it's almost been two months, but here I am! Yay for you guys! Yeah…here's the chapter. I wish I felt like doing review replies…but I don't. Sorry, but you should be utterly thank for I'm updating! (…right?) So thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 6- Of Being Lost and Being Found

Summer slowly opened her eyes to the distant rumbling of thunder. As she stood up the heavy weight of past events came crashing down upon her.

Freddy staying over, him finding out about Rae, the fight, him storming off in a rage, all because of Rae.

At the thought of her daughter, Summer quickly scrambled out of her room. Rae was probably starving. And that just peaked the problem of how she had an especially large phobia of thunderstorms. (A/N It surprises you on how big of words I can use, doesn't it? Haaa.)

"Rae, sunshine, where are you?"

When there was no answer, Summer rolled her eyes. "Rae, this is no time for hide-and-go-seek, come out!" Summer ordered her daughter.

No giggling girl popped out from behind the counter, or any other hiding space, and Summer became worried.

"Alright, Rae, this isn't funny. Come out now, or else, no dessert for a week!"

Rae always had quite the sweet tooth, and when dessert was threatened Rae normally always obeyed Summer. But still, no sign of her.

She then began searching the apartment, figuring Rae was still hiding. But when she didn't find her, Summer panicked.

And as the rumbling of thunder came nearer, it did nothing but make Summer's stomach feel worse.

-:-

Freddy walked down the secluded street, hands shoved deep into his pockets, muttering to himself.

_Damn girls and their need for keeping secrets. _He thought angerly.

He was going to have to apologize, that much was obvious. And if he didn't want to go to jail, he was probably going to have to _beg_ for forgiveness as well. And Summer held pretty good and long grudges.

Shit, he was royally screwed.

As Freddy continued to walk down the street, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jackass."

"Oh, my darling Zack, how do you do?"

"Okay, needless to say for you. I heard you screwed up again."

"Sweetie, you're going to have to specify, screwing up is the story of my life."

"Summer just called Katie, practically sobbing, over how much of a dick you are." Zack informed him, just a _smidge_ of sarcasm heard in his voice. (A/N Well, now that I type that, that line doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever. But I don't wanna go back and delete it, so, yeah. Deal with it.)

Freddy raised his eyebrows. "Did she now? Well, I have no idea why!"

"So I guess you know about Rae." Zack observed, ignoring Freddy's last comment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA. _You_ even knew about my daughter? Everyone knew but me, damn it!" Freddy yelled frustrated.

"Not true, actually."

"Oh yeah, and who wasn't informed? The mailman?"

"Um…no. Actually, the mailman does know. It's Billy that doesn't know."

"Billy!"

"Yeah, Summer forbid anyone to tell him. She said something about not wanting her child to have to be dressed in hideous beads and sequins!" Zack laughed.

In ordinary circumstances, Freddy and Zack would have laughed hysterically over that. But Freddy felt like doing anything _but _laughing.

When Zack realized Freddy didn't find that information as humorous as he did, he stopped laughing.

"Look, man, we wanted to tell you, but…you know Sum. You knida broke her heart."

"But I'm here _now_ aren't I?"

"You may be here now, but what about then? Does it just no matter as much…or what? She struggled a lot, Freddy. It was a pretty hard thing to watch."

"Zack don't you pull this 'I'm so wise,' shi-"

There was a small tug on his pant leg.

"Daddy, can I talk to Uncle Zack too?" A blonde headed girl excitedly bounced up and down, eager to talk to her 'Uncle.'

"I…gotta go." Freddy stammered.

He hurriedly hung up.

"DAAAAADDDDY, why'd you do that?" Rae whined.

"What…what are you doing here?" He accused.

She giggled. "I followed you here! Mommy was crying when you left, and she's no fun when she's sad, so I thought you could play with me!"

"Did you tell your mom you were coming with me?"

Rae's smile widened.

"Nope! It's a surprise, so she can be sad all by herself! Isn't that nice of me Daddy?"

"You left the house with telling your mommy?" He yelled.

Her smile faded and tears filled her eyes. "You don't have to yell at me!" She sobbed.

"Wait, no, I'm sorry! Don't cry, I didn't mean to tell! How about I go get you some ice cream?"

Her smile instantly returned and Freddy realized, she hadn't been crying at all!

"Goody! Let's go to Strickland's!" She skipped off in front of him.

And oddly, he was strongly reminded of himself.

-:-

"What kind do you want?" Freddy asked Rae when they arrived at Strickland's.

"Butter Pecan, yummy, my favorite!" She exclaimed.

Freddy's eyes widened upon hearing this. This child was like a miniature him! (Except for the fact she was a girl, of course.) He loved Butter Pecan!

"Two small Butter Pecan cones." He said to the teenager behind the counter.

He nodded and turned to retrieve their ice creams, and Rae gasped, appalled.

"You didn't say please!" She exclaimed, horrified.

"You don't always have to say please!" He argued.

"Yes huh, you do!"

"Not uh, you don't!"

"Yes huh!"

"Not uh!"

"_Yes huh_!"

"_Not uh_!"

"_YES HUH_!"

"_NOT UH_!"

"Gosh, give it up, people are sending you funny looks. You're arguing with a 5 year-old!"

Freddy stuck his tongue out at her, and turned back to the counter.

Rae crossed her arms triumphantly and discreetly mumbled a "Yes huh!"

"I heard that!" Freddy snapped.

Rae giggled.

Freddy pouted.

-:-

"Katie, I don't know where she is!" Summer screamed onto the phone, frantic, "How can I lose track of my own daughter? I'm such a horrible mother…"

"Summer, no, stop it. You're an incredible mom, and don't ever think different! Think of all the things you've done for Rae! Just because you…misplaced her, doesn't make you a bad mom!"

"Where is she? It's gonna storm, she hates storms! She could be outside, freezing to death, Kate!" She bawled.

"Sum, it's like, 60 degrees out there, it's almost impossible to freeze to death! We live in New York City, we know what it's like to be cold!" Katie supplied.

"This is Rae we're talking about, she'd find a way! She's Freddy's child too!"

Katie rolled her eyes. Sure, this was an important situation, but Summer was probably over reacting. Rae was probably just at the neighbors or something.

But Katie did feel horrible for Summer. First all the shit with Freddy, and now this. _It seems as though fate's never on Summer's side_…

A/N Okay, that's it. It was long wasn't it? Especially without the review replies. I hope you liked it! And if you didn't oh well, sucks to be you! Review if you love me! Or, review anyway! Thanks for reading! I'm sick, and I want to sleep, so I'm not going to proofread, so if they're a lot of mistakes, I'm sorry! Much Love.

Mucho Grande ex's and oh's

Annnnnnieeee

P.S Pray for those people down in the south with the hurricane. (Especially if you're one of them) Because one of my most greatest friends is in Mexico right now, and I'm worried! So, yeah, God Bless them.


	7. Of Parks, Thinking, and Carpets

A/N Whoa. As of today, it's been two months since the last time I did this. I could waste a long time giving all of the reasons I haven't updated (trust me, there's a lot) but instead I'll just get on with the chapter, really hope it was worth the horribly long wait. I'd do the review replies, but it seems like everyone says the same thing. So if you want like a question answered or something, I'll reply to that, but otherwise, thanks a bundle and more for those heart-warming review! (Haa, I'm pretty corny if I say so myself.)

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 7- I don't quite have a name for this one yet

"Can we go to the park?" Rae was bored. She was tired of just walking around the streets with her dad. She wanted to do something _fun_, not _boring_!

"No."

"Daddy, why can't we go to the park?" Rae was whining, again.

"Because I said so, that's why." (A/N Does he sound like a father or what!)

"FINE!" Rae skipped ahead of Freddy and began to hum to herself.

"Daddy…"

"What?"

"Could we go to the park?"

Freddy rolled his eyes, a strange sense of repetition overwhelming him.

"If I take you to the park, will you promise to be quiet so 'Daddy' can think?" He asked her.

"Pinky promise!" The young girl exclaimed. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a Q-Tip in my eye!"

"A Q-Tip? Rae, its not a Q-Tip its supposed to be, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a thousand needles in my eye."

"Well, I know that! But don't you think needles would hurt my eye, Daddy? After that time me and Jacob played Nurse and Doctor and accidentally stabbed out my dollies eyes, Mommy won't let me play with needles!"

"Yes, and that's a good reason! So, no needles."

Freddy continued to walk down the street, Rae occasionally falling a few steps behind, and her running to catch up with his slighter longer strides. Finally they reached the community park.

Freddy sat down on a bench and pointed to the deserted playground, "Go ahead, go play." He told his daughter.

She stared at him blankly before crossing her arms over her chest, jutting her hip to the side, and taking on a bossy tone of voice, which made Freddy, strongly think of Summer.

"Uh…aren't you going to come and play with me?" She asked.

"Uh…I thought you were planning on letting me think, and I can't play with you and think at the same time!"

(A/N Did anyone happen to notice how insulting that line was for Freddy? Hahah)

"Well then why can't you think later, Daddy?"

"Rae, right now, there's a desperate amount of crap for me to think about, and I'm afraid if I keep pushing it aside, my head will blow up and I'll be shattered all over the park grounds, which are infested with rabid animals." Freddy snapped.

"OHHH, cool, can I watch!"

Freddy let out a grunt of frustration. He needed to get this child back to her mother before it became the death of him.

"Hey Rae, I have an idea! How about we play this game called, Whoever Can Run Home Faster To Mommy Gets A Dollar!"

She stared at him in disbelief. "Do you see these legs?" She pointed to her short legs.

"Yeah…"

"And do you see how small they are, Daddy? Do you know how hard it'd be to run all the way home with these legs, and only receive a dollar?"

"10 bucks!" Freddy was starting to think he'd do anything to have some peace and quiet.

"Now, we're getting somewhere. Call it 15, Daddy, and you've got a deal."

Freddy stared, open-mouthed at his 5 year-old daughter. "When did you become such a haggler?" He asked her.

"I dunno…but it works doesn't it? GO!" She screamed.

And they were off, Freddy and his daughter racing to find a nearly hysteric Summer Hathaway.

-:-

Zack was worried. Not only for the fact that Rae was missing, most likely somewhere with Freddy, of all people, but because he was starting to think that if Summer continued to pace the way she was, she'd wear a hole right through his floor.

"Summer, relax. She's with Freddy, I know it!" Zack spoke kindly.

Summer looked over to the spot Zack was comfortably sprawled on his couch. "Great Zack, just great, she's with FREDDY! He'll lose her, and if not that, he'll kill her or something!" Summer snapped.

It was then Zack realized how stupid that comment he just made was. Of course it wouldn't comfort Summer to know her only child was with irresponsible Freddy Jones. It'd probably make her feel better to know her daughter was with a pack of hunger wolves.

A/N I'm stopping now. It's unbelievably short, and yes, I feel horrible enough, so don't make it worse, please? Plus this chapter sucked. It was completely a filler chapter, and I guess fillers aren't always interesting. So, sorry about that, and any other mistakes I may have made typing. Though I do very much enjoy the banters between Freddy and Rae. By the way, special thanks to Allison Jackson and Nanners-77 for reminding me that people still want me to update! Haahaha. Review if you love me, and even if you don't still review!


	8. Just Leave

Bleh. I hate being sick. But I suppose being sick has its benefits, because I have nothing to do but sit at the computer and think about how I really, really need to update! And having that waver over your conscience, trust me, isn't the greatest feeling! To be honest, I have no idea where I'm going with this story. So, you all have been the greatest times a million people to be patient with how I, annoyingly, leave long gaps between my updates. So, here's to you!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 8- The name'll come up later, I'm sure of it!

The distant rumbling of the thunder was coming much closer, and the smell of rain was in the air. But these facts were not obvious to Freddy and Rae who were laughing and running to Zack and Katie's apartment. All thoughts of earlier arguments were far from their minds as they ran, occasionally cutting in front of each other as they raced for the prize of fifteen dollars.

Finally, the landscaping of their apartment building came into view. "I hope you don't cry when I _cream_ you, Daddy!" Rae exclaimed as she jumped over a fallen stick on the sidewalk.

"I hope you don't cry when _I_ cream _you_!" Freddy yelled back, three paces in front of the small child.

Suddenly, there was a cry of pain, as Rae tripped on the sidewalk and fell. "OW! DADDY HELP!" It was amazing to Freddy how it seemed little kids could go from happy to crying in .5 seconds flat. He turned around and went to help his daughter, huffing about the race, and now they would have to tie if he was going to have to carry Rae over the finish line.

He held out his hand to help up Rae, who appeared to not be bleeding, but only crying very forcefully. She grabbed his hand, with a surprisingly strong grip, and in a swift movement, before he knew what hit him, Freddy was on the ground, and Rae was giggling like crazy, and already halfway through the apartment door.

"Cheater!" Freddy screamed. Though it was useless, for Rae was most likely already in the apartment. And then it occurred to him; Summer was going to _kill_ him.

-:-

Summer's eyes instantly flew to the door as the sound of it banging open rang through the apartment. What if it was Rae? But what if it wasn't? What if she never again saw her daughter?

"Hey Mommy!" Rae called out casually, as she ran to where her mother was haphazardly sprawled out on the couch, a nervous wreck.

Summer instantly sat up, hardly believing her daughter was in no mortal harm. "Rae! Oh my God, where have you been? I was so worried about you! You can't just leave mommy like that, honey." Summer smoothed her hand over Rae's golden-blonde curls.

"I'm sorry Mommy, it just seemed like you'd want to be alone, so I went and followed Daddy when he left. And then we got ice cream and went to the park and then we raced home for fifteen dollars and I was losing but I pretended to fall and Daddy was gonna help me up and I pulled him over and then he fell and then I ran up here and now I won and Daddy owes me fifteen bucks and I had a lot of fun!" The lung-capacity on this small five year-old was unfathomable.

It was then that Freddy burst through the door, slightly panting, and bent over at the waist. "I'm-gasp-sorry-gasp-Summer-gasp-she-gasp-followed-gasp-me."

Summer stood up and looked at Rae. "Honey, how about you and Uncle Zack go and watch T.V or something in the other room." Summer commanded/suggested.

"Mommy, I want to stay in here with you guys! I don't like it when you have fun without me, it's not fair!" Stomping her foot, Rae began whining and crying. Though, unlike Freddy, Summer didn't cave into Rae's little act, having become immune to it over the years.

"Rae, NOW, go." Summer snapped.

Rae opened her mouth to say something else, but Zack grabbed her hand and quickly intervened but pulling Rae into the other room, with every intention of watching the television…sort of.

Once they were alone, Summer pursed her lips.

The silence in the room was deafening. Freddy considered it odd how, sometimes when places were loud, he longed for it to be silent, but now that he was here, in one of those deadly silent situations, he longed for hustle and bustle, or at least a sound of some sort.

What felt like ten minutes went by before Freddy realized. Summer was trying to silence him to death. She was planning on standing there; not speaking, until he cracked and either went insane or died. But considering the circumstances, Freddy would much rather die then stand here looking at Summer's disappointed face.

Finally, Freddy could no longer stand it. It was one thing for Summer to hate him, but for to despise him was another.

"I'm…sorry Summer." He began.

"Your sorry? Really, Freddy? You're sorry, for taking my child and leaving me here to worry and act like the biggest bitch on the planet, or are you sorry for after you figured out you had her not bringing her back immediately, or are you sorry about the fact that you 'really didn't do anything and it's not really your fault?' Which is it, because quite frankly, I don't have the time to stand here and listen to you when I have a job to do and a child to take care of."

"Summer, I seriously didn't mean for the kid to follow me and leave you all worried or anything. It's _actually_ not my fault, and I'm not only saying that because you said I would!" He yelled.

"Well gosh Freddy, of course it's not your fault! It's all mine, because, I made myself cry, and I made Rae think I needed to be alone. Or maybe you don't remember; the reasons I was sobbing was because of you!"

"And in case you don't remember you were the one who didn't tell me I had a child, and this might have been easier if I had known. Then I wouldn't have freaked out, and yelled and been so mad, if you had just told me about Rae! Then she wouldn't have thought you needed to be alone and she wouldn't have left and we wouldn't be here right now throwing cheap shots at each other because we're both too proud to admit we're both wrong!" Freddy wanted to be rational, but if Summer was going to make this seem like only his fault, he'd be damned.

"You think this is about pride Freddy? You think the reason we're standing here screaming at each other is because we have too much pride? You know that's not the reason at all." She calmly stated, abruptly stopping with the screaming.

"What else would it be? You were to proud to tell me that I got you knocked up and now you're too proud and self-righteous to admit you're wrong!" Freddy exclaimed.

"Ohh, of course, so not only am I proud, but now I'm self-righteous too. Damn it, I am such a problem." Summer sarcastically yelled, once again taking on her mad demeanor.

"You don't understand how hard it was for me to come and see you and find out for the past five years I've had a child, Summer! If this hasn't been easy for you it most defiantly hasn't been easy for me!" Freddy's face was flushed with anger and something else, something that he wouldn't want anyone to know.

"Yeah, and you don't understand how hard it was for me to explain to my parents that I was pregnant and that I knew who the father was but he had ran away. Dad was furious, he kept saying how irresponsible we were and how you were such a coward to have ran away. But I never told them you didn't run away because of the baby, I never told them how I had no idea why you ran away, I just stuck with the story of you not wanting a child. Because in a way that was easier then thinking about why you actually left Freddy. Why you felt so horrible being with me you just up and left."

She whispered the last part, having never spoken it aloud before, but only in her head. It sounded even harsher out in the open. Her words lay heavy in the air, and Freddy let out a puff of breath, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

He too had taken notice of how harsh those words sounded, and how wounded Summer appeared to be. That wasn't why he had left. He had loved Summer more then anything he had ever loved before, and why he came undone, he had no idea.

That was the true problem of Freddy leaving. It wasn't because he had left, but it was because he had no idea why he did it, why he was so stupid.

"No. That wasn't it Summer. Not at all, just stop it okay. Don't even think that you weren't good enough for me, or any of that other shit. I was the one who wasn't good enough for you okay? Don't be so stupid." He spoke the words firm, playing them over in his head as he said them.

"Freddy, I think I want you to leave." Summer said, sounding more confident then she felt.

"I can't Summer, I don't want to leave this time, I don't want to be a coward anymore. I wanna be with you. With you and Rae." He exclaimed, making up his mind. This was his epiphany, and he wasn't going to leave this time.

Summer walked over to the door and opened it, inclining her head for him to leave she looked anywhere but at him and said, "I think it's a little too late, Jones."

"You don't mean that!" He yelled at her.

"Oh my God, not this again. Yes, Freddy, I mean it, okay. Just LEAVE. You're making it really hard for me to breathe and I don't know what I'm gonna do if you continue to stand there telling me things, okay? Please, go. I'll find you another lawyer in my firm just as good as me, and you can still win your case. I mean, after all, that's the reason you're here."

Freddy nodded, and walked out of the door.

His stomach was clenching with the deepest sorrow he had ever known. Walking out of that door was taking every ounce of power Freddy had, and he was afraid that he would collapse within the next five seconds. As his stomach continued tossing and turning he realized, this was the greatest amount of pain he's ever felt. And for the first time in years, as the rain began to pour and the lightning began to flash, a tear rolled down Freddy Jones' cheek.

A/N Wow. This is the most emotionally exhausted I've ever felt, typing this chapter. Haahha. This was really, really, really dramatic. I think I might have over done it, but I really hope not, but of course, I'll need reviews in order to know. ) I actually think I like this chapter. And DAMNIT, I had this really cool last paragraph that I thought of in the middle of typing this, and it didn't fit where I had it, so I copy and pasted it, and then I forgot that I had, so I copy and pasted something else and then the paragraph was GONE. I hit myself so hard in the head, I still have a headache, and that was a good twenty minutes ago. Because you see, I've been sitting at my computer since 9:12, and it is now 11:19. You see what I put myself through for you people? Hhaa, I'm only kidding, because oddly, this (what I believe) sad chapter was fun to write. Of course, my legs kept cramping so I would have to stand up and then my dramatic flow would end and I'd have to submerse myself all over again! Lol. It was just recently my birthday, so, if you want to be cool and give me a birthday present, maybe you should review, eh? By the way, I just listened to the same song over and over for almost two straight hours, and it gave me WICKED inspiration for this chapter, and I even used a few lines from it, considering it's almost based on the same thing. So yeah, Goodbye Waves and Driveways By The Rocket Summer, if you want to check it out. Anyway, this A/N is long enough and I reallllllly wanted to freaking do review replies on here (even though I could use that new handy-dandy e-mail reply, I prefer to be old-fashioned and use my chapter, in order to make it appear longer,) but I have yet to shower, and I have early Church in the morning, so, SORRY! But, thanks for reading, excuse any mistakes.

Much love;;

Annie


	9. Like, Like, Vodka

Hi guys. So…uh yeah. Who's feeling horrible? I am! Today marks the two months since I've updated-day! So, the excuses could go on forever (School, homework, volleyball, blah, blah, blah.) but I figure I'll just update. I've certainly been putting it off long enough. And just to let you guys know, I feel completely stupid, because I have no idea what I'm doing with this. And it's quite bothering me that I have no idea what to write about. Like…very freaking badly. So, thanks eternally and forever (which are pretty much the same thing, eh?) for the reviews! There isn't anything to really reply about in them, so thanks to: Butterflyblonde, Vampirehelsing, Summer&Freddy92, Heartbreakerginny, SuperSlinkyBerliner, Vgrlsccr, Ketta Dragontamer, Krystal, Golden Angel71, Calli, Rock Drummer Chick, School-of-Rock101, Jessica whom is a loser, and Sianne.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 9- Like, Like, Vodka

The insistent ringing of his cell phone convinced Freddy that he was, somehow, still alive. Though it felt as though he were dead. His head was pounding, and it seemed like he hadn't slept in months, maybe years.

He drowsily opened his eyes, blinking numerous times to focus his gaze. He was seeing doubles of everything. From the nightstand, to the bottle of almost empty vodka that stood on top of it. So that explained the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had, obviously, gotten trashed last night. Though he could hardly remember anything, so what had happened that had caused him to get drunk?

His phone clicked into the voice mail, and before long, there was a beep that signaled the caller had left a message. He blindly reached for the phone, and finding the appropriate buttons, he held it to his ear, and began listening to the message.

"Hello Mr. Jones. This is Leanne Maclen, Summer Hathaway's assistant. I was just calling to give you information on your new lawyer. His name is Stuart Stewart, and he's hoping you two will be able to get together today to go over your facts considering the trial is nearing. I'll give you the contact information and make sure you call him. Summer has told me how you have a tendency to be irresponsible, so please, try to remember to call him. His number is…"

The message went on but Freddy stopped listening after that point. Snatches of phrases tumbled in his head. _Information on your new lawyer, _what was that? His head was pounding ferociously as the previous nights events came back to him.

His thoughts were hazy, but he could remember enough to know he'd been stupid. He'd royally fucked up, and figured Summer would probably never forgive him. But the thought of never being able to speak to Summer or even see her, made his head hurt with a newfound intensity.

-:-

The prospect of locking himself in his hotel room and never coming out was looking very good to him as Freddy walked onto the streets of the city, the sun shining brightly. The weatherdid anything but reflect his mood.

He walked, head down, feet shuffling under him as they hit the hard pavement. Ever step he made, he felt as though another pound of lead was being added to his shoes. Squinting, he looked ahead and saw the sign of the law firm.

A stuffy looking building, forbidding, and studious. Freddy greatly wished he was still in his nice warm bed, sleeping. But after listening to the message 14 times, sleep was almost the farthest thing from his mind. And try as he might, it wouldn't overcome him. So he had resorted to call up this Stuart guy, and set up a meeting. The least he could do was that, plus,he owed it to Summer.

He wondered what would happen with them. She had seemed so serious and sure. Did she really want him to leave forever, or was she just trying to protect herself and Rae? It was probably both, now that he thought of it. But he wasn't planning on hurting her, nor did he want to.

But then, Freddy thought to when they were together as teenagers. It seemed so long ago now, but still so clear. He had had no intentions of hurting her then, either, and look at what happened.

Taking a deep breath, Freddy pushed open the door and walked in.

-:-

Freddy walked to the receptionist's desk and waited for the woman to get off of the phone and help him.

"Uhh huh. Sure, Bobby, sure. You do that. No. You can't say it's over with me when I say it's over with you first. NO! You take that back…No. Right. Yeah right, like I believe that. No way…" It was then she noticed Freddy and held up her finger to signal she'd only be one more minute. "Sure. FINE, WE'RE OVER. Just remember you totally missed out, kay? Bye Bobby, you jerk." She exclaimed, slamming down the phone, and letting out a frustrated scream.

The woman stood there for a few seconds, before bursting out in loud, shoulder-wracking sobs. Freddy glanced around awkwardly, and seeing they were alone in the lobby, he had no idea what to do.

"That damn asshole!" She exclaimed.

Freddy looked at his feet, feeling torn between wanting to run away, and wanting to comfort the girl.

He lightly patted her on the back and said, "There, there. It's…okay," in what he thought was a sympathetic tone.

She gave a loud hiccup, grabbed a tissue from the box on the circulating desk, and looked at Freddy curiously.

"Sorry…it was just my boyfriend. Or, ex-boyfriend, now, I guess." She said quietly.

"That's okay, it's fine. Could you tell me where-" Freddy began, but was interrupted as she said, "I'm Leanne, what's your name?"

"Freddy," he told her, "But could you just tell me-"

"Freddy? As in Freddy Jones, Freddy?"

"Uh…yeah, that's it. Freddy as in Freddy Jones. But I was looking-"

"Oh my God! You're like totally Summer's ex, aren't you?" She squealed.

Freddy rolled his eyes, and knew Leanne wouldn't see, for she seemed overly submersed in her own thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess that'd be me too. Though, that's not what I'm here f-"

"Whoa! When she told me about you, she never explained how hot you were! I mean like…wow!"

"…Thanks. But-"

"That was so _nice_ of you to comfort me like that! But It's almost a relief to get out of that relationship. I mean, Bobby was totally like…always mean to me, ya know? He was so, like, over-"

"Thatsucks but I really-"

"Wow! That is so like Bobby, always such an ass, always interrupting me, like what I had to like say, wasn't at all important, or like, anything. Gosh, are all guys like this or what? I mean…"

And that's how, for the next twenty minutes, Freddy found himself listening to Leanne talk, and talk, and talk, and suddenly, he wished more then anything that the word like, and never been invented.

-:-

"So, like, what'd you need? I know sometimes I talk too much, but like, I'm a receptionist, isn't that like, pretty much my _job_?"

Freddy widened his eyes and nodded his head. "Really all I needed was for you to point me in the direction of Stuart Stewart's office."

"Oh! I'll take you come on!" She walked from behind the desk and grabbed Freddy's hand.

"Oh no. That's okay, I'm sure if you give me the directions, I'll be more then fine!" Freddy spoke quickly. He was afraid his ear would fall off after more of listening to this girl. If she hadn't been so gorgeous, he would have left by now. But, once a shallow man, always a shallow man.

"No way silly! I'll take ya!" She began talking, and pulling Freddy with her. "It's so nice to finally meet a man that listens, ya know? Sure, guys listen, but only cuz they want in my pants. But with you, I like have this feeling, and it's like, totally different." She rambled. Freddy absently nodded, and made approving sounds when necessary.

He looked at his surroundings, and noticed he was near Summer's office.

Was this what his future held? Listening to bimbos going on and on about absolutely nothing, and wishing he could hold an intelligent conversation with someone? With Summer everything was an intelligent conversation. Everything was exact, and precise, and though that may bother him at times, right now, he wanted it more then anything.

And he had made up his mind, he was going to talk to her, and get her back.

Now. It was going to be now, he would march into her office, and have at it. He would explain he wanted, no, he _needed_ her. Though it wouldn't be easy, after awhile, knowing his Summer, she would give in.

As they passed her office, he let go of Leanne's hand, and walked to the door, peaking into the window.

And what he saw made him want to puke.

Because there, was Summer throwing her head back, and laughing at what some man said, and she touched his arm lightly and continued to laugh.

His gut wrenched, and his stomach shriveled in jealously. It was then; Freddy knew he never should have left his hotel room, or that bottle of vodka this morning.

Then Leanne appeared at his side and peaked in too.

"Finally! Stuart's been eyeing her for months now, but she's always been so distracted! He finally went for it. Aww, they're so cute together!" Leanne sighed, obviously not sensing Freddy's anger or discomfort at the situation.

"Wait? That's Stuart, my lawyer Stuart? The one who has the same last name and first name?" Freddy almost-yelled.

Leanne giggled, "You are sooo right! How funny, he does have the same two names!"

"You know, suddenly, I'm feeling a little sick, I think I'm gonna go." He said.

"Oh…okay! Should we tell Stuart Stewart…?" She began laughing again.

"No. I'm just gonna…bye." He could hardly take his eyes off of the scene unfolding before him. He used to make Summer laugh like that. Before he broke her heart.

"Wait!" Leanne ran after him, and grabbed his arm.

"What?" He yelled, frustrated.

She stopped at her desk and wrote something on a paper, and handed it to him.

"Just in case," She told him, winking, and walking back to her post at her desk.

Looking at the paper, Freddy saw a phone number scrawled onto it. He thought back to Summer and that asshole Stuart, and pocketed the number. He'd call her. There's nothing wrong with some harmless fun. _If Summer can, so can I_, he thought.

Freddy walked into the nearest liquor store, and bought the first big bottle he could find, and began walking back to the hotel.

It would be a long night.

A/N Awww, yay. That chapter was fun to write. Especially with Leanne and her 'like, like, like' tendencies. Well, drama, drama, drama. So, I'm excited, because as I was typing, the Plot Bunny visited me! YAY! Something actually happened in this chapter, unlike the usual, same thing happening over and over. And, does anyone else find the whole 'Stuart Stewart' name thing as funny as me? Because I think it's hilarious, and as I wrote this, my friend was telling me how insane I am. Anyway, like it, hate it? Reviewwww, and I'll love you forever! Sorry about the wait, guys.

Much Love;;

Annnnnnnnnnnie is cool.


	10. Leopard Print & George W Bush

Two months-ish is a long time to wait. : ( BUT I'M UPDATINGGGG.

**YAY, I'VE NEVER MET COOLER PEOPLE IN MY LIFE/**REVIEWERS

Golden Angel71, Sianne, Rock Drummer Chick, KASEY, Krystal, YEAH MEH MAWM IZ HAWT, MissSixty88, Calli, WhiteFangTheLostMarauder, endymion015, School-of-Rock101, Blackfishy.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 10- Leopard Print & George W. Bush

"And I was like, 'There's _no way_ she'll pick the leopard print!' And then, she did! It was amazing. I had never thought of leopard print, you know, actually being fashionable, but then, I totally did! She makes such a statement, Paris Hilton. I think that's probably why I idolize her so much, because _everything_ she does, _means something_!" As Leanne took another sip of her drink, she swayed slightly and continued her slurring tribute to Paris Hilton.

Freddy closed his eyes, placing his head in his palms. This had been going on for hours. With each new drink, there was a new celebrity, new speech, and most importantly, a new eccentric fabric. Freddy never understood the female mind, but never before had he endured tirades such as these. He had stopped listening after being told, "Hilary Duff really is cool, I mean, all the time's I've met her, she's totally been, like, chill and mellow. How many celebrities do you know that are like that?"

Freddy had responded that he hadn't met any celebrities, let alone Hilary Duff. Leanne simply motioned for another drink, and moved on to the next topic.

He had soon discovered his intention to get the girl drunk, and then sleep with her had been in vain. She didn't need the drinking. He could have taken her home right when he picked her up and ravished her then. Just the thought made his lip upper lip curl in disgust. She was so tactless, Leanne. Had she never heard of pride, of making a man wonder? Freddy knew women, or rather a certain woman, who would never dream of the things Leanne was now doing.

And Freddy couldn't help but want to be with that specific girl. Summer. No matter how he tried, his thoughts would not cease to stray back to the beautiful woman.

He knew that the night could only get worse, so he raised his glass of whatever it was, smiled sarcastically at Leanne, said "Bottoms Up!" and promptly downed the glass.

-:-

"And so I said, 'Mr. President, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, I am far too busy to represent your horrid daughters in a case they undoubtedly, will lose. Call me next time you have something important to ask me.' And I hung up. It was the most liberating experience! Of course, afterwards, I was worried he would hunt me down and have the Secret Service kill me. But the gesture was still exhilarating." Stuart finished his long tale with a flourish of gestures, which Summer had no idea of how they were related to the story at all. Of course, they did show how extravagant Stuart could be.

They were sitting at a private table in one of the fanciest restaurants in New York City, and it seemed Stuart had yet to cease talking. His loud voice echoed off of the neatly decorated walls, making Summer's head throb. The lights in the room were dimmed to a light red color, obviously meant to create a romantic setting, but to Summer, it only put a strain on her eyes when reading the menu. But that needn't matter, for Stuart took the liberty of ordering for her anyway.

Something she hated. Something she would not tolerate with any other man. But she knew if she interrupted Stuart, he would barely acknowledge her. In fact, it seemed as though he hardly looked at her, but at the mirror that sat on the wall just above and behind her head. She had only met one other man in her life who was as conceited.

But she wouldn't think about him again. Summer was too tired to have thoughts of Freddy Freaking Jones running through her head. She wished this night would end, and they had only just ordered their main courses. Well…_Stuart_ had just ordered their main courses.

Reaching across the table, summer grabbed her wine glass and downed it. If she wasn't having fun at least she could enjoy good alcohol. And then, as if a sign from God, her cell phone rang, a Metallica melody playing from the small phone speakers. Stuart raised his eyebrows in disbelief. What was that racket? Rock music?

"Summer, you should answer that, you'll disturb the other customers." He told her, in a condescending tone.

Summer looked around the room; they were not only the only people in it, but also the only table. Who could she possibly be disturbing other then Stuart?

Stuart looked at Summer expectantly. She looked at the screen and saw it was Katie calling. Katie was watching Rae, and something could be wrong, and Summer would have to leave! (One could only hope.)

"Uhm, sure, I'll just head to the restroom, as to not disturb." She stood up and walked away, feeling that Stuart was completely intolerable.

Once in the safe confines of the restroom, Summer flipped open her phone and tiredly said, "Hey Kate."

"Summer! Hey, how goes the date?" Katie sounded cheerful, but Summer knew she would only call if something were wrong.

"Fine. What's up?"

"Oh nothing, it's just your daughter is freaking out because she misses you. And she keeps begging me to let her call you, and I told her if she could spell Mississippi I'd let her—"

"That was stupid, she can spell Mississippi better then she can spell her own name." Summer interrupted.

"Yes, well we know that _now_, don't we? Anyway, here she is."

Katie's mature voice soon changed to a higher, squeakier octave.

"HI MOMMY!"

"Rae, honey, how are you?"

"I'm good mommy, how are you? How's your date? I don't understand why you're on a date with this loser, Aunt Katie's words, not mine, when I have a Daddy you should be dating. I don't think I like this. And I bet Daddy won't like it either. Uncle Zack says Daddy really misses you and I just DON'T get it, Mommy!" Rae exploded with words that had obviously been floating in her head since the first moment she heard Summer was on a date with another man.

"Rae, Mommy can't explain it all right now. But when she gets home she'll try to. But Mommy thinks Daddy is irresponsible and not ready for a kid as great as you. And Mommy also thinks that Stuart is responsible, okay?"

"Okay Mommy. But come home quick 'cause I have so many thoughts my head is going to explode, Uncle Zack says, and I'm not okay with that! I like my head!"

"Alright, Rae I promise. Now I have to go okay. I love you, honey."

"Love you too Mommy!"

Summer hung up and breathed in deeply. So nothing was wrong with Rae other then the fact she thinks too much, and wants Summer to be with Freddy, something that will never happen. She walked out of the bathroom and back into the room with Stuart.

"Everything okay?" He asked, as she sat down, retrieving her fallen napkin and replacing it on her lap.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine. Just my daughter worried about me."

Stuart choked on this gulp of wine. "Daughter? You? What?"

Summer stared at him closely, "Yeah, I have a daughter named Rae, she's almost six. Is there a problem with that? I thought you knew. Don't you like kids?"

"Uh, yes, of course, I love kids!"

Summer didn't notice the look of distaste on Stuart's face. She brightened at the thought he at least liked kids. Finally, something she liked about him.

"Oh, well Rae is just adorable. Of course, she's my daughter so I have to think that, but really, she's the light of my life. I'll have to introduce you two! You'll love her!"

Stuart smiled a strained smile, "I'm very sure. Any child of yours must be delightful. So, who's the father?"

It was Summer's turn to choke on her wine, "The father? Oh, well just this guy."

"Obviously, a guy! But who? You do know don't you?"

"Of course! Are you implying I'm a whore, Stuart?"

"No! Of course _not_."

"Well, he's a guy that I feel rather uncomfortable about sharing with you, so, if we just go back to talking about the President! Damn that Bush, sending us to war!" She slammed her fist on the table dramatically to further explain her point.

But Stuart's eyes widened, "I'm a republican, you know. I support of George W. Bush's decisions!"

Summer's eyes, in turn, widened. "Oh, well I just assumed from your earlier story—"

"That just because I won't defend his daughters I don't respect our president? Of course I do, Summer! Wow, you're surprising me tonight."

But then, again, sweet salvation, Summer's phone rang. This time, she didn't leave, but answered on the first ring.

"Hello…Katie, slow down…What? Rae? What's Wrong? I'll be right there!"

Summer hung up quickly and scrambled to her feet, haphazardly.

"I have to go! Thank you for… Well bye." She ran out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Stuart chased after her.

Summer hailed a cab, and got in, tears in her eyes, her heart thumping wildly.

"Its Rae…she's in the hospitable."

A/N OHHHHH. I love myself. This chapter was boring, I know. Very much a filler chapter, but a chapter nonetheless. Anyway, tomorrow I'm leaving for vacation for a week, and when I get back, I expect plenty of reviews, right? And I'll work on future chapters while tanning on the beach, and then, possibly my next updates won't be nearly as long. (Yeah right.) Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. : ) Reviewwwww. By the way, I hope everyone caught onto the contrast between Leanne and Summer, and Stuart and Freddy, because that's what I was trying to do. Especially the bit about him hating her cell phone ring. And also, I didn't mean to cause any controversial issues about the George W. Bush thing. I just thought it was humorous, and if you dare say anything about it in a review, I'll never update ever again. (Or not, but still.) Sorry for anything spelling/typing/grammer mistakes.

Much love.


	11. At the Hospital

Bahhhh, I hate myself.

DA KEWLIZ:

Blackfishy, kc4mesweetie, SpazzyTink, School-of-Rock101, WhiteFangTheLostMarauder, endymion015, lilyflowr33, JEZEKAH SUX, Nanners-77, Rock Drummer Chick, EpisodeSkywalker, & Kazeri. And anyone else who may have reviewed since I started writing this considering it was about 2 months ago. Thanks for da reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own School of Rock. OKZ!shiftoneoneone111dfjhds!sjsjq!

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 11- In the Hospital

The pesky three-inch heels Katie had somehow convinced Summer to wear on her date were making it very difficult for her to run. With each step forward, she felt another blister forming on her toes. The long, black dress she had once thought to be her favorite, most beautiful piece of clothing, she now hated. For if it wasn't so long, she wouldn't be tripping nearly as much as she was.

Why did she have to go on a date tonight? She's such an idiot, she doesn't _date_. She cringes at the word. Memories of bad dates constantly coming to her mind, making her wince in embarrassment. And now, here she was, running down the hallway of the children's hospital. _What a perfect ending to the most perfect evening._

After getting in the taxi, and telling the driver, Pedro, where she was headed, she proceeded to hysterically rant to him about the effects a bad date could have on someone. She want on for the entire fifteen minute ride to the hospital, only stopping every few seconds to breathe. But Pedro had been very understanding, introducing himself and making the appropriate noises of outrage or disgust at the proper times. And now, here she was, running down the clean sterile corridor of the hospital, dodging nurses and doctors, hardly finding the time to mumble an excuse me before taking off again.

The nurses at the nurse station had told her Rae was in room 113, on the third floor of pediatrics. Running there had been no easy situation, but the only thought passing through Summer's mind was Rae, (Well, Rae, and a few fleeting thoughts of Stuart, but she thought it may be hard to throw up and run at the same time, so she quickly pushed those particular thoughts away.)

It was almost relaxing to run like this. If it hadn't been for the impending doom, Summer would almost feel at ease. She put running on her mental list of things to do, before laundry but after grocery shopping.

And finally, _finally_, she reached room 113.

The first thing she saw was a flash of blonde curls, directly in her face, and then, a florescent pink piece of plaster, that promptly whacked her in the gut. But Summer didn't care, because it was Rae, her baby, _with a broken arm_.

"MOMMY! I BROKE MY ARM! RIGHT HERE, IN THE ARM, YOU SEE IT?"

And it was then Summer knew Rae was fine, because if she wasn't she certainly wouldn't be acting like her usual self.

"I see, sunshine. That's a nice color you've got there."

"I know! I got to pick it out, and then, Jacob was a little baby, whining he didn't have a cast, and I told him, 'I'm the one with a broken arm here!' but he didn't care, so the doctor gave him a lollipop, and I'm the one with a broken arm here, so I started whining and she game me _two_ lollipops!" Rae happily held up her other arm, revealing two blue lollipops.

"Well, that's great, honey. How about you and Jacob go eat your lollipops over there, alright?"

"Is this when you kill Uncle Zack and Aunt Katie? 'Cause he said you would kill them, on account of my broken arm. And I don't think it's their fault, I was the one jumping on the bed that was a million billion feet off the ground. Honestly!"

Summer laughed and put Rae gently on the ground, as if afraid she would break another part of her body. As she walked towards Zack and Katie, they each took a tentative step back, instinctively grabbing onto each other's hands.

"Summer, really, you heard your daughter. It's all right. She'll be fine in a couple of weeks! It was a small break! Kids'll be kids, eh?" Zack attempted to protect himself and his wife.

"You guys it's okay, I know it wasn't exactly your fault. These things happen. I just wish they wouldn't, is all." Summer tiredly sat in one of the hard plastic chairs, and relief instantly coursed through her exhausted muscles. It had been a very long day.

Zack and Katie breathed audible sighs of relief.

"Come on guys, I'm not that bad, am I?"

They each glanced at each other, seemingly deciding who was better to answer the question. The answer was obviously Katie, because she spoke up, using a soothing tone.

"Of course not Summer! It's just; you've been so stressed lately…what with, well, you know. And we know how much you love Rae, and we do too, you know that. And well, we worry about you is all."

"Yeah, I know. It's just, she's all I have." Summer glanced over to where Rae and Jacob were playing. Or, more accurately, Rae was roughly punching Jacob with her uncasted arm. Then her glance shifted to where Katie had just comfortably settled herself on Zack's lap.

"Do you guys think…that I'll have what you have with each other? Ever?" she asked.

"Summer. Just stop it, of course you will. You're an amazing woman, all right? Any man would be lucky to have you! Right Zack?" Zack nodded his head and Katie continued. "What? Was the date bad?"

"Yeah, bad date, story of my life—"

"All right, I'm here, what's going on, where's Rae?"

And there it was, the exact voice that had been plaguing Summer's thoughts and dreams for the past week. The one that made her feel so many emotions at once, particularly anger and sadness.

He had just burst in the hospital room, just like that. _WHO DOES THAT, ANYWAY?_ Summer thought. His hair was tousled, he obviously ran though the hospital, the same way she had. And he looked handsome, nice jeans, a sliver-but-not-in-a-tacky way shirt brought out the brown in his eyes, and Summer noted, with a pang of jealously that he looked 'date like.' She remembered the look well from when they had went out on specific occasions, and not just the regular Saturday night movie.

And she was mad that he was on a date with someone else, and not her. How pathetic. She hated him; did she forget how many times he's made her cry? And yet she's still in love with him. _It's just sickening_, she thought. And then she remembered where she had been before this hospital trip, and felt vindicated. She had also been on a date, not one she enjoyed, but there was no way for Freddy to know that. All he saw was her looking especially pretty.

Summer was saved from having to make any comments, by her daughter, the reason they were all having this charming get together in the first place.

"Daddy! You came! I'm happy you came, Daddy! I feel off the bed, see? Here on my arm, it's pink, because it's broken! It doesn't always turn pink, because you can pick a different color I guess, but I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to have a pink arm! I would want a pink arm! That's why I have a pink arm! That, and 'cause it's broken!" As per usual, the small girl spoke her long and entertaining sentences in one breath. A trait Freddy had come to realize was one of her many talents.

"Well, of course I came. I'm your Daddy, aren't I? And I love you."

He shot a pointed look in Summer's direction, without looking at her.

"I guess you are. Aren't you? Why are you asking me? Your not?" she asked.

"You know Rae, for such a smart girl, you sure do act a little…funny sometimes." He figured telling a five-year old she was stupid on occasion was illegal, so he refrained.

"That's what Mommy says. She says I take after you. And that's okay with me I guess. I think I wanna be a drummer, like you. After my arm is all fixed, Daddy, I wanna be a drummer! You can teach me, all right? Okay, see ya." She scampered off to do some more damage on Jacob's internal organs.

"Summer, it's nice to see you're teaching her all the correct things about me. At least she's right in one, I am one helluva drummer."

He smiled in what he hoped was a charming way, but inside he was seething. Why did Summer look so nice, if she was just heading out to the hospital? Why had Zack called him saying Rae was hurt and she was crying for him, if Summer had been right there, he assumed? But Zack had said they were babysitting, so where was Summer? Was she dressed like that for a particular reason? Did she…_have a date_ or something?

And then the name Stuart Stewart came to mind. Asshole probably took her somewhere nice, a beautiful romantic spot; they were probably having a great time, discussing intelligent things intelligent people discuss, over fine foods and spirits. Great. Sounds like a great time. And where was he? With the slut of the year, Leanne, chugging down whatever form of alcohol he could get his already unsteady hands on.

And the 'Most likely to kill himself in the next 2 minutes' award goes to…Freddy Jones!

A/N Okay, I know a few people out there may want to kill me, but hear my excuses first, because they're pretty good. Alright, until school started, that was being lazy on my part, but, then school started, and of course, it's completely crazy. I have volleyball after school everyday, so when I get home I barely have time to eat and shower and do homework, let alone write the next chapter. And I was really, really, planning on doing it last weekend, and if you can believe it, my freaking computer _would not turn on_. So, it took all week to fix, and last night I had a very consuming night of watching the little mermaid with my dad (I'm not kidding about this.) so here I am now, with a barely passable chapter, but I like it.

Rae is so fun to write because I can go on and on and on, and it's for the sake of the story. Plus, I _really_ like to use italics, if you can believe it. (Can you tell?) Anyway, I know it's short, and I'm sorry. But please read and review, and try to ignore any mistakes, because I'm pretty much rushing to get out of my house right now. So, much love, and thanks for reading.

Annie

And, coming next chapter: I have no idea! But, a confrontation with Summer & Freddy, because I too lazy to write one now, and, possibly a longer chapter! (Don't count on it though. Hahaa)


	12. Perfect Confessions

Well. Don't even pretend you didn't expect this update to take forever…it always does.

I love the people who reviewed.

EpisodeSykwalker, Nanners-77, greenbananas, endymion015, School-of-Rock101, Kasey

By the way, I'm desperately trying to make this story as un-clichéd as possible, so keep that in mind during this chapter, that if you get annoyed, it was completely unintentional.

_Thoughts are in italics. There is cussing in this one, just because that's how I see Freddy handling difficult situations, through colorful words. Everyone okay with that? Great._

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 12- Perfect Confessions

As the excitement died down, and Rae began to relax, (for her standards at least) Summer became more and more jittery. The fact the man she loved and hated was so near made her knees shake, and not in a romantic way either.

After the initial shock of just being in the hospital with his _daughter_, of all people, wore off, Freddy was his usual calm and collected self. He laughed with ease at each joke told to lighten the tension, and even told some jokes of his own. He was quickly charming all of the nurses, and was enjoying every moment of it.

Or he would be, had it not been for the fact Summer was there. Just sitting, acting as if his being there had no impact on her. '_Damnit_' was the thought running through his mind every time his glance accidentally slipped her way. _She really does look beautiful tonight_.

Then there was Zack and Katie, her sitting on his lap, with them fondling each other like newlyweds. Smiling and cooing at any chance they got, causing Freddy's stomach to churn. As if this entire night wasn't enough, he had to watch his two best friends be in love, while his _greatest_ friend wouldn't even look his way. Fucking fantastic. Icing on the damn cake. Honestly.

And of course, there was all this, and Rae wasn't even factored in. The girl is cute, but she's damn annoying. He always thought a combination of him and Summer would be lethal. But he'd obviously never expected it to actually happen. At least not until after they got married or something. But no problem, he screamed that one up just fine.

Summer nervously rang her hands on the armrests of the cold, plastic chair. Her fingers were beginning to numb, but that was the least of her worries. As they waited to get the okay from Rae's doctor to leave, Zack was telling jokes and anecdotes to relieve some of whatever hung in the air. Of course, it seemed a little difficult what with Katie on his lap and all, but he was always quite a multi-tasker. _God they are sickening! Always in love, always perfect! It's unreal_, she thought.

In typical Summer fashion, she'd been waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump into the conversation and excuse herself and Freddy. There was something she'd given a lot of thought to, but each time she worked up enough courage, Freddy opened his mouth, his perfect mouth, and all hope was lost.

The moment apparently came, during a joke.

"So there's a priest, a rabbi, and a—"

"Freddy we have to talk. Or we need to, I don't actually know the proper coining of this term."

"Uhh…oh. Well, I don't know," caught off guard, her nervously pointed towards Zack, who had originally started the joke, "He was just going to tell the joke!"

"Well, I'm sure it'll be here when we get back. Right Zack?" She used her lawyer tone, the one no one could argue with, as if speaking to another attorney, or a judge.

"Of course it will. You two kids have fun." He smiled ironically at Freddy, who rubbed his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose.

"Right…promise."

Summer's heels clacked on the ground as they exited the waiting room, and into a vacated room.

"So, I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I'll get to it." She took a breath, feeling the air enter her diaphragm as a reassurance.

"I really don't want to yell at you."

"Good, because I don't know why you would." He stared at his shoes, feeling stupid for having said that. Now she would definitely yell.

"You—"

"Wait. I don't want you to yell either, okay?"

"Good. Well, there's some things we should probably discuss," she began.

"You're absolutely right," he said this absentmindedly. Freddy couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Summer looked when she was in her business mode.

_What's the proper way to do this? _Summer anxiously thought. Ever the perfectionist, she'd been thinking of what to say the entire time in the waiting room. But unlike herself, nothing came to mind. She'd just have to do one of her most feared things; wing it.

"I've been thinking a lot about our situation, and I appreciate your staying away these past couple days, it made clearing my head a lot easier."

Summer shuffled her feet, her heels making a squeaking sound on the tiled floor. Freddy roughly shoved his hands into his pockets. They were like two pathetic teenagers.

"It wasn't easy," he breathed.

"Yeah, you're right. It wasn't. Nothing in life is, ya know? We really don't have it easy. I mean we have it easier then like, starving children in Africa, but it's still hard—" Summer rambled, not unlike Rae.

"Where are you going with this, Hathaway?"

Summer sat down in a huff, audibly sighing.

"It's just so hard, _everything_, I mean. When I heard 'Rae' and 'hospital' in the same sentence, my stomach just dropped. My baby is in the hospital with a broken arm. What am I supposed to do about this? Being a mother is such hard work, and I'm alone." To Summer, the statement was not meant to be accusatory, but that's exactly how it was taken.

"_Please_ do not start this with me! Damnit, Summer, you didn't have to do it alone!" Rage surged through his eyes, and Freddy angrily clenched his fists, a common occurrence when he was mad.

She laughed a cold sarcastic sort of scoff. Not in an angry way, but in a tired way.

"How could I have not done it alone, Freddy? My parents would hardly help support me without saying something completely snide and hurtful; I couldn't exactly go to them for parenting advice. The only people I had left were our friends. All beautiful people, but not exactly the greatest parents at that time. Where were you?" Summer began to silently cry.

"Denver." He whispered, inaudibly.

"What?"

"When you were pregnant with Rae, I was in Denver, Colorado. Living in a little town near the mountains. They had an unbelievable underground music scene." He informed her, just as softly as before, as if reading from a brochure.

"Well…that's great. Just amazing that you got to live in Colorado, by the mountains with a great underground music scene. You know what's really great? New York. There may not be any mountains, but the damn snow's the same. Music's pretty swell here, too. Isn't that great that while you ran so far away, you were still so close? Wow."

Summer's voice was so bitter that Freddy's eyes soon found hers and realized she was crying big, sad tears. There was a long silence, with only Summer's occasional sniffle filling the dry air. Finally Freddy spoke.

(What I'm about to type, I have just realized, is already said in an earlier chapter, with a confession from Summer. So, I'm completely sorry that I lack an original thought process, and you pretty much have to read the same thing twice.)

"I was scared Summer. That's why I did it. Everyone had graduated high school, was in a fancy college, had something to do; a life, a job, an internship. And what did Freddy Jones have? Not a freaking thing. I had the band, but everyone knew that was ultimately over. The only thing I had was you. You were the top, Sum. The MVP, to me, the teachers, to everyone. I was so tired of hearing 'You're with _him_?'"

"I didn't care what anyone said about us. The only time I was ever me was around you. I wasn't tired." She interrupted harshly.

"Yes, but I was. I was bringing you down to my below average level. It was disgusting. I loved you so much, and I knew, I just knew one day you'd get tired of me and leave, so I did it first. That's how fucked up I am. I couldn't stand to be left behind, so I did the leaving, and there hasn't been a day since that I haven't punched myself for it.

I wanted to leave a note, but I just couldn't do it. You and the band, you're the only who's who ever tolerated, or even liked me. How could you put that in writing, for God's sake? So I was gone. And I'm sorry Summer. I'm so, so, so sorry. I don't expect these words to make you forgive me," by now, tears were freely falling down each of their stony expressional faces. "But I hope they help. I wasn't trying to hurt you; I was trying to prevent myself from hurting you. Shows how much I suck at being a good guy."

In two quick strides, Freddy walked to the wall, and roughly punched it repeatedly.

"Damnit. Damnit," with each punch, there was another yell.

"Hey—wait." Summer jumped up and grabbed each of his calloused hands into her own soft ones. "You're right. That doesn't make me completely forgive you. But it _really, really_ helps."

A/N Yayyyy. I actually like this one, because finally, Summer and Freddy are together without having a fight. Yippe. So, I'm really hoping that wasn't predictable. Was it? I had a review that said she felt like she didn't really know my characters, so I tried to improve upon that as well. Please excuse any mistakes. REVIEWWWW and I'll love you.

Annie


	13. Of Laughing & Dancing

I don't even know why it took so long. I'm really sorry. This site is getting a little queer, and I just keep forgetting to update, because my attention span is about one centimeter thick, and I've been busy.

Thanks: EpisodeSkywalker, kc4mesweetie, School-of-Rock101, Swedishblonde, Lorraine, Monoculus, CorruptedInk. You guys are the greatest.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 13- Of Dancing & Laughing

It had been three and a half weeks since their dramatic scene, and Freddy and Summer had only fought one time since; over whether Rae needed a jacket or not. Though no one was blissfully ecstatic, there was no unhappiness either. Summer woke up every morning to find a message on the machine from Freddy, asking to come over, or Freddy in person, making breakfast.

It was completely cliché, but Summer was beginning to fall in love again. And love, is not part of the plan. What is part of the plan, however, is to get the Freddy vs. Michelle case solved, and Freddy out, so Summer can forget whatever feelings were blossoming inside of her.

The two of them had been working steadily towards their goal, proving Freddy was innocent. Though it was a difficult thing to prove, Summer was beginning to find holes in Michelle's story, making it easier for her to prove Freddy's innocence. They had since discussed the supposed two million dollars Freddy was planning on paying Summer. Once each of them realized he didn't have that kind of money, nor would he ever, they discovered another more realistic sum.

Today in particular, Summer and Freddy sat at the kitchen table. Freddy devouring yet another pile of pancakes, as Summer sat with a stack of fifteen or so papers spread out before her. She was muttering to herself, her glasses, which were usually substituted for contacts, were resting in her hand as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in agitation.

"There's has to be a way she…no, that would never work. Maybe…no, not that."

Freddy had found it a better alternative not to make fun of her talking to herself, considering the past seven times he had, she had snapped at him rather rudely. Of course, he was finding it extremely hard not to say anything, with her sitting there looking as adorable as she was. Not that he would ever even think that, let alone mention it to her or himself. Up until now, Freddy has found it best to just hang around, entertaining Rae, and answering questions when need be. But Rae was his real escape, his method of not having to stare at Summer, realizing the way she would twirl her hair when apprehensive or chew her pen cap lightly when she was about to make a discovery.

With Rae, she was a twenty-four hour job, constantly needing attention, which worked out wondrously, considering Freddy also needed constant attention. Zack, obviously seeing how Rae was preventing Freddy and Summer from 'bonding,' quickly swooped in and insisted Rae's company was necessary on a trip to Central Park. Which left Freddy at a complete loss, forced to notice the way Summer would twirl her hair when apprehensive or chew her pen cap lightly when she was about to make a discovery.

_Damn Zack._

In typical Freddy Jones fashion, the silence was becoming unbearable, and he took it upon himself to break it.

"So, Tink…how's it coming?"

Summer's eyes jerked up from a hefty pack of stapled papers and asked, the annoyance evident in her voice, "How does it look like it's coming, Spaz?"

Freddy, unable to come up with a response, quickly shut up. But the quieter he tried to be, the louder he became. And before long, the School of Rock song he _thought_ he was singing in his head seemed to be coming from outside of his head. And then he couldn't help but think just how damn good it sounded, and he got just a smidge louder. And then a little more. And a little more. And just a teeny bit louder before he began dancing around the small kitchen in a way similar to having a seizure.

The look Summer shot him and the inappropriate words she began yelling should have been enough to stop him, but of course they only gave him more reason to sing and dance. After all, it was relaxing him to being singing an old song, a song that felt like home. And before long, Summer began to laugh, which only gave Freddy the confidence to continue his show.

He really didn't know what came over him, but he did know that one moment he was looking at Summer's tired face relax into a beautiful laugh, and the next, her hand was in his and he was leading her around the apartment, singing and dancing in a way that made him worthy of the nickname Spazzy McGee.

To Freddy, time had stopped. He had no idea how long they had been dancing around, how many times they had sang the song, Summer's voice just as bad as his. But he did know his heart was pounding the entire time, and he felt like a lame-ass, but Summer really was his _one_. He didn't feel it when his leg slammed into the counter, but he did feel it when his leg just grazed over Summer's.

And the hilarity of it all is that while he thought there was no way Summer would ever feel this way about him, she was thinking the same exact thing. This could have gone on for who knows how much longer, if the ring of Summer's cell phone had not brought them back to reality.

The singing died down, and the dancing ceased. Summer began loosening her grip of Freddy's hand, her brain coming down from whatever high it had been on as both of their breathing slowed down to the normal rate, their hearts still racing wildly.

"Don't answer it…" Freddy half-whispered even though Summer was already at the table, picking up her ringing phone.

"Hello?" Her voice was a quiet sound against the volume it was just seconds before.

"Oh…hi."

Freddy wasn't sure who was on the other line, but Summer seemed to instantly deflate as she glanced at him quickly. Not in a worried way, but in a defeated, coming back to reality way.

"Yeah, me too. It was great. Oh yeah, sorry about that, but yes, she's okay."

Summer was silent as the person spoke. She drew her eyebrows together in way Freddy could only perceive to be concerned.

"Uhm, okay, that sounds good. But it's not really a good time now. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow."

With a sinking sensation, Freddy knew she was talking to a guy. And not just any guy, a guy who seemed to think he could take Summer, right from under his nose. _Probably that bastard, Stuart_, he though angrily

"Right…right. Okay, tomorrow then. Bye."

Through his disappointment, Freddy was able to notice he's never seen anyone hang up a phone so quickly and forcefully. Summer hit the button so roughly, Freddy heard her emit a very quiet 'ouch,' before taking her place back in front of the law papers.

She instantly began reading again, and Freddy understood she wanted to get back to work and forget that what just happened had ever happened.

He leaned against her kitchen counter, forearms on the counter, head in his palms, and starred at Summer expectantly. She was chewing her pen cap, he noted with interest, and also twirling her hair. He could sense her agitation, not with the papers, but with him staring. Which only made him stare with more intention, with his eyes bugged out and his mouth open in a wide circle.

"FREDDY! STOP!"

"Stop what?" Freddy batted his eyes innocently, his mouth forming a charming smile Summer knew all to well.

"Well, I can't concentrate with you staring at me like that, and it's your ass that's going to jail if I can't concentrate!"

"Jeez, okay. If you're going to be like that."

Freddy took a seat at the small table and grabbed a stack of papers.

"Can I read this?"

Summer smiled innocently, "I don't know…_can_ you?"

"_May_ I, Mommy?"

She laughed lightly at the little joke she had made (well, she thought it was a joke.)

"Yeah, go ahead. Though I can hardly make sense of it myself."

Freddy opened up the packet and flattened it out on the table. He read the first sentence, "When dealing with a case such as blah, blah, blah, hmmm, not important, not important," he flipped the page, "why does that have _any_ relevance, blah, blah, not important, the end." He waited a beat while Summer sat in a disbelieving silence.

"Wow…what a supreme waste of my valuable time."

Summer rolled her eyes to the ceiling, feeling a headache form from Freddy's exhausting efforts.

"Freddy, please, I really don't have the time or the patience to deal with you right now, so either shut up and help me, or leave."

"Alright, alright, I'll help. But don't expect me to do it quietly!" He warned.

"FREDDY!" She glared angrily.

"Actually, I think it would be _very_ wise of you to expect me to do it quietly, because that's exactly what I'm planning on doing! Right now!" He averted his eyes back to the papers, actually reading them.

Damn. He hated the affect she had on him.

A/N So, that was actually not as short as per usual. And I like the energy of this one. I completely enjoyed myself with the sort of motherly way Summer scolds Freddy with still enjoying herself. Personally, I don't think I'm rushing the relationship, but what does everyone else think? So, I'm never going to get better unless you review. So even if you hate it, a constructive review would be nice! Thanks for reading. Hahah, I've just noticed the past two chapters have ended in a 'damn/damnit!' I'm so original.

Annie


	14. Seven Days & Counting

Thanks to: Monoculus, endymion015, kc4mesweetie, lilly-rain

Anyone else this chapter? That would be very nice and appreciated.

Sorry about the wait, as usual.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 14- Seven Days And Counting

One week, that was all that was left. One freaking week, and they still had nothing. In exactly seven days, Freddy Jones and Summer Hathaway, would be fed to the dogs. And not just dogs, court dogs. Unforgiving court dogs that didn't know Freddy and didn't care whether or not he went to jail, who just wanted to get on with their day so they could get home to their families. People who's lives revolved around ending others.

They had explored every option, calculated every turn, wracked their brains; and yet they were left with the same conclusion: It was impossible. How do you solve a case as ridiculous as this one? How is it possible to prove he wasn't involved in the pregnancy of a minor until the child was born? Why was Michelle pushing and pushing for this to happen? How, how, how, why, why, why?

Summer and Freddy could not stand to be within five feet of each other without arguing about what should be done. Their lives were different, and yet completely the same. Freddy never expected one crazy dance around an apartment to change much, yet he felt it had. Then that damn phone call with Stuart had to ruin it. At first Freddy was optimistic it wasn't him, but later when he had confronted Summer about it, needing to know, she admitted it was. Since then, Freddy hadn't approached the topic, and neither had she, but he assumed she was still seeing Stuart when she wasn't seeing Freddy.

Often, Summer would find herself waking up from a terrible nightmare about showing up in court ninety minutes late, or with no pants on, or with no shirt on, or showing up with neither. Regardless of the details, the main idea was the same: Summer Hathaway, invincible lawyer, wasn't fully prepared for this case, and certainly expecting a loss. She began biting her nails at the thought. This is bad, very bad.

"Biting your nails is a terrible and disgusting habit." Freddy lightly informed Summer as she yet again slaved over paperwork.

With this statement a silence was left in the room with the exception of the tapping of Summer's pencil against the small café table at the restaurant. With each passing second, the tapping got faster and faster until Summer's hand was a blur against the table. Freddy raised his eyebrows, amused, and shot a look at the nosy onlookers from surrounding tables as they stared, annoyed at Summer.

"She's trying to keep me out of jail, okay? She's a little stressed so why don't you all fuck off, alright?"

A mother nearby made a concerned gasping sort of noise only a concerned mother could make, and quickly scooped up her children and left the café.

With a roll of his eyes, Freddy whispered to Summer "Some people can be _so_ unbelievably rude."

Freddy was surprised to see Summer fold up the papers and laugh at his comment. He waited a moment and watched as she placed a tip on the table and left the café. He jogged to catch up with her and eyed her expectantly.

"…Well?"

"…Well, what?"

"Well, are you finished? Did you figure it out?" Like a child, Freddy bounced on his feet, hopeful.

"Sort of. At least, I think I might have, but not exactly in a conventional way. It doesn't really involve court, or me at all. It's kind of all you, and I'm not so sure you're gonna go for it."

Uh-oh. It's never good when someone admits something like that, especially to Freddy. Because anyone who knows him knows he'll go for just about anything, ranging from one extreme to the next. This couldn't be good.

"Okay, just lay it on me, you never know, I might do it. I'm pretty intent on staying out of jail."

Summer looked thoughtful for a moment, weighing her options. She could use the Band-Aid effect and just say it quick and run, or she could be slow, precise and give Freddy more time to think. She opted for the former and blurted, "I-think-you-should-talk-to-Michelle."

As she took off down the road, laughing in spite of herself, she heard Freddy yell, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Unfortunately, time has taken it's toll, and Summer's no longer as fast as before she had a child, (not that she was ever very fast to being with) and Freddy quickly caught up with her. She winced at the level his voice was at as he yelled "Summer, you're crazy. I know you haven't slept much these past few days, but really, this suggestion is too much."

"Why Freddy? You married the woman for Heaven's sakes! I think you can handle calmly speaking with her for a few minutes, and just explain how preposterous this accusation is!"

"Summer, in case you don't recall, _she's crazy_. Although presently, she's seeming a little less crazy than you, regardless, I cannot be in the same city as her, let alone the same room!" With this statement, Freddy threw his hands in the air and leaned against a nearby tree, waiting for whatever remarkable thing Summer had to say next.

"Freddy, I understand you two rushed into a marriage and, obviously, it turned out sour, but this is your only option. Do I need to explain the concept of jail to you? Do you not get the whole solitary confinement deal? I know you constantly need entertainment, and being in jail, I'm not so sure you're going to be getting that. And with the evidence we have now, or lack thereof, you will be in jail in seven days, alright? So you should talk to Michelle. You _need_ to talk to Michelle. If not for you, which is something I could not fathom considering your selfishness, at least for Rae. The poor girl just got her father, or at least somewhat, and now you want her to lose him again because he's too much of a coward to face his crazy ex-wife? Honestly, I expect more from you, for all the shit you talk, but you can't walk the walk?"

Freddy stood against the tree with his eyes bugged out. "Wow…that was one hell of an inspirational speech. Like, seriously, I'm almost convinced."

Summer made a loud sound of impatience "How can you not be? What else is holding you back, Freddy? Because do you realize that with the loss of this case, and your being sent to jail, and Rae losing her father, if that stuff's not enough, my reputation will be tainted. I'll walk down the street, and people will think 'There goes that Summer Hathaway, the worst lawyer in the Big Apple, can't even solve a simple case like that Jones vs. Green one.' Help me, Freddy! I'll do almost anything, within reason!"

Freddy appeared to be considering his options when he spoke up with, "You know most people who would recognize you on the streets would be native New Yorkers themselves, and I've never met one person who has lived here their whole lives refer to it as 'The Big Apple.'"

"Freddy…" Summer was using the voice she uses whenever Rae did something bad, which was an extremely intimidating voice, Freddy noted. Her eyes widened dramatically and her red lips formed a sort of pout.

And then, Freddy continued to stare at her lips, realizing what Summer had said to him.

"Anything?" He asked just to clarify.

"Within reason," she added, a little louder then need-be.

"I'll think about it in exchange for a kiss." He waited for the blow-up, and was not disappointed.

"Freddy! Seriously, this is serious!"

"Summer! Seriously, I'm being serious! I think it's very fair and reasonable. And actually, very chivalrous considering things we've done together in the past! Don't you know babies don't just grow on trees?"

Of course, not surprisingly, Summer didn't appreciate Freddy's humor. She eyed him warily and seemed to consider him.

"Just a kiss?"

"Just a kiss."

"And you'll really, really think about it? Good and hard? And thinking about it is like doing it, right?"

"It's as good as done, honestly."

"Okay…well." She quickly walked over, closing the space between them, and pressed her lips lightly to his. Within three seconds, it was over, leaving Freddy's lips to feel warm, but also aching.

"Wait, what?!" Freddy called after Summer's retreating back.

She turned back and winked, "Get the job done Freddy, and you _might_ get the rest of your prize."

A/N So, this was terribly hard to write. I've been suffering from extreme writers block until now, but good news: 1 to 3 chapters left, and they're completely-ish planned out! Plus, it's summertime; so expect more frequent updates (hopefully!) I loved the end of this one, and finally Freddy and Summer share a moment! Exciting, right? Anyway, I'm seriously sorry about the wait, and I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and they review! Thanks for reading!

Anniee


	15. Convincing Michelle

Just to let you know, I have extremely good excuses this time around.

Thanks to the few people who actually took the time to review, it means a lot. (: And I have to admit, to those who read and didn't review (there were many of you,) you make me saddddddddddddddd!

_Thoughts are generally put in italics, in case you haven't noticed._

**(So, there's a bit of cussing in this one. Get over it.)**

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 15- Convincing Michelle

Freddy had once heard that when you dread something, really, really dread it, time seems to speed up until the moment of fate arrives. And in his case, this statement was very true. It seemed a mere five minutes ago that he stood before Summer, seeing her beautiful face shape into a pout when she asked him to talk to Michelle. But now, here he was here, in front of his ex-wife's immense mansion, wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

He attempted to relax himself by humming an old song Zack wrote as he approached the front door. He couldn't help but notice that in front of Michelle's door there was no welcome mat the way there was at Summer's. The thought made him realize he definitely wasn't welcome at this house, and it would be a safe bet to just turn right around and go home. Back to Summer, and though she would be mad, she'd be a hell of a lot easier to handle then crazy Michelle.

But as Freddy felt his body turning around, back towards safety, he began to think that a crazy Michelle might actually be easier to handle than an angry and disappointed Summer. Not only that, his freedom was on the line as well as his well being.

"You can do this. You're a man. You are absolutely not afraid of this crazy-ass woman." And with that, Freddy roughly pushed the doorbell six times.

"I'm cooooommmmmmiiiinnnnggg!" A shrill voice from inside the house proclaimed, the voice belonging to Michelle Green.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I'm dead._

-:-

"And I told her, because, you know, I just _had to_, right? I said, 'Sweetie, whoever designed your gown should be arrested for indecent exposure of the most heinous dress I've ever seen.' And _of course_, she ran from the party crying, and thirty minutes later she returned in a simply adorable Chanel dress! And obviously, everyone was all, 'Kitty, I just love your dress! It's positively _to die for_.' And she just smiles her skanky little smile and takes all the credit. As if it were her idea to change! What a bitch."

Freddy took a large gulp of his tea, which he hated but Michelle insisted, and smiled a thin, sarcastic smile. "What a bitch," he echoed.

There was a silence then that was bearable, but awkward nonetheless.

"So let's be honest here, Freddy. You're definitely not here to discuss the happenings in the country club. And if I remember correctly, we're divorced and hate each other. So unless you're here to reconcile, I can only assume you're here to speak about the upcoming court date."

Michelle crossed her slim arms tightly across her chest and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

He slowly set his teacup on the small table that sat before them, savoring time before he began his explanation. Or more like, he began his pleading. Freddy glanced around him, noting that in his absence, Michelle had redone the patio that they sat on. The tiling was new, and all the patio furniture had a new, non-faded floral print. The sky was a bright shade of blue, without a single cloud in the sky, but Freddy thought he smelled rain in the air.

Not knowing how to start, he began with a simple, "The patio looks nice."

He was not met with the usual gracious, "Thank you very much," a hostess would normally give in this circumstance. Instead, Michelle's nod was barely considered a nod, and could have possibly been just a twitch. In the silence that followed, she uncrossed her arms and began tapping her fingers lightly on the lounge chairs armrest.

"Yes, this yellow shade…it really, uh, goes with the stone of the house. It's nice," Freddy continued in a fruitless attempt at buying time to really consider what to say. Why hadn't he thought of what to say before? _Because you didn't think you'd actually do this, _he thought to himself.

"Freddy, darling. I know what you want, so go ahead and say it so I can just send you on your way alright?"

"Well, Michelle, this isn't exactly something I really want to do right now. It's not every day a man has to face his ex-wife this way, and beg for a sort of truce."

"So you're going to be begging, are you? Well then maybe I _should_ keep you around, that'll be something to enjoy."

She smiled a bright smile that one could only assume was supposed to be endearing, but turned out creepy instead.

"Michelle. You and I both know that I wasn't home at all that month. I was never here, and there's no possibility I could have gotten Celia pregnant. You know it, I know it, and she knows it. This is craziness, dear. Complete craziness."

"Well, Freddy. I think you may have developed some sort of hallucination, because I'm pretty sure that you _were_ here around the time Celia got pregnant. And I'm sure she remembers that as well. I mean, how could she forget her stepfather _raping_ her. I'm sure that's not something an underage child just forgets! Especially if you're supposed to be someone she trusts." Michelle said all of this with a light tone that made it seem she was just discussing the weather.

"Michelle, for heaven's sake, you know I wasn't home!" Freddy stood up and began pacing, choosing to vent his frustration that way, and not in another, possibly punching Michelle's face, for instance.

"Oh? You weren't? Well, I hadn't noticed, that's for sure. Where, pray tell, were you?" Again, her eyebrow was raised, suggesting she knew perfectly well where Freddy was.

"I was…you know."

"Freddy, either you were here, raping my daughter, or you were somewhere else. Either way, I'm afraid I can't help you. So why don't you just leave before I'm forced to call the estate security."

She stood up and took his arm, beginning to lead him away from the patio, towards the fence leading to his car. Instead, he turned and grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him.

"You know where I was Michelle. Don't make me say it. You know, and you also know that it was very far from here. Impossibly far, especially too far for me to have raped Celia."

"I'm waiting." If her tapping foot was no sign of her agitation, the fact that her face was turning red definitely was.

Freddy muttered something inaudible that Michelle had to lean forward to understand.

"What was there? You were where?"

"Vegas."

"Oh really?" She acted as if this was news to her. As if she hadn't seen the credit card bills for all of the lavish things he bought himself and a _guest. _As if she hadn't heard all of the whispers behind her back, that she couldn't keep her husband happy, that he had to run off with another woman to _Vegas_, of all places. As if she hadn't noticed the man she married disappear for three and a half weeks, only to return happier then he had seemed in years. As if she hadn't noticed or heard all of the club ladies sympathy mutterings as she walked by, 'the poor girl who just couldn't handle Freddy Jones.'

"I hadn't noticed you were even gone."

"Bullshit, Michelle. Bullshit. I know what happened. People probably talked about you behind your back. People probably looked down on you. 'You couldn't handle me,' they probably told you. Well you couldn't. I didn't need someone to baby-sit me; I needed someone to love me, as stupid as that sounds. Someone to not make up lies about me as soon as I turned my back for one minute. And that's exactly what you did, isn't it? You couldn't handle me not being here, not loving you, so you told everyone I raped your fucking slut of a daughter, DIDN'T YOU?"

The pacing stopped and Freddy regarded Michelle with a look of utmost contempt.

Somehow managing to remain in control, Michelle told him he gave himself entirely too much credit. She took a step closer towards him, and placed her hand lightly on his arm. "Freddy, I would never lie about you like that. I love you! Women in love just don't do that!" She gave his arm a light squeeze.

"Michelle, I know what you've done. And I know I didn't handle our…situation in the best way. I should have spoken to you about it instead of running off to Vegas. But I hardly think your retaliation is very—"

"Shhh, Freddy, dear. What's in the past is simply that. The past. Maybe we should be looking more towards our future…" She left the sentence hanging in the air, and moved her hand from Freddy's arm to his neck.

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Our future? Michelle, I don't know what you're talking about, but maybe you should lie down or something."

"Lie down? Freddy, you're terrible! But alright, if you think we should…" Her hand regained control of Freddy's arm as she pulled him inside the house.

"Wait, no. I did _not_ mean it like that. I meant you should lie down. Alone."

Michelle's pout was an answer to that statement as she continued to pull him towards the couch.

"Michelle, honestly. Do you want to charge me for rape, or be responsible for it yourself? Let go of my arm."

Freddy tried to make a joke of it, but in all honesty, he was worried. Since discovering he was in love with Summer, he had yet to be tested with another member of the female sex throwing themselves upon him. And to be honest, Michelle was beautiful, and he wasn't sure he could resist.

"Freddy? Come on, for old times sake, don't you want to?" She pulled him on the couch and placed herself on his lap, and leaned in closer and closer towards his mouth, waiting.

And for a few seconds, Freddy allowed himself to indulge in the kiss; he let himself think back to the days when he truly did think he loved Michelle. When she wasn't a crazy bitch who tried to convince the world he raped her daughter. But he realized he _couldn't _remember a time she wasn't a crazy bitch, and that he never loved her as much as he thought he did. Now that he had experienced a more real sort of love with Summer, the kiss with Michelle was nothing. He felt absolutely nothing.

"I need you to stop the trial." He blurted, sort of breathless from the kiss they had shared and the realization he had come to. He felt exhilarated knowing that he could resist the temptation of sex with another woman, all because he loved Summer.

But Michelle was a little slower on the realization, and she continued her pursuits of Freddy.

"Don't be silly, Freddy! I can't do that!"

"And why not? Please, Michelle, I've apologized for what I did. And I truly mean that apology. Don't you think we could start fresh, as friends?" He picked her up and placed her on the other side of the beige leather couch.

"_As friends_? Freddy Jones, you are too funny. As friends…that's a good one."

"I mean it Michelle. I think we'd be good as friends. I think it would be great for us to occasionally go out to lunch or something. Have discussions about things and no fights. It sounds pretty relaxing, right?" _Of course, if I get out of this alive, I will _never_ be her friend, _Freddy thought.

"Well, I mean, it sounds nice. But would you really give all of this up?" Freddy, who had been looking at his hands, glanced up, figuring she would be gesturing towards the immense house and all of the fancy decorations, but instead she was referring to herself.

"Um, well, yes. I think I can, uh, manage."

"You have another woman, don't you? I cannot believe this, Freddy! You won't let me hit on you _and_ you have someone else? Wow!"

"It's Summer." He blurted quickly, not thinking.

_What. The. Fuck. Why did you do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

"HATHAWAY?" The disbelief was etched all over Michelle's face.

"Uh…no. Summer, uh, Fields."

"Summer Fields? Right. I cannot believe you're doing Hathaway. Again? Wow. This is just too much."

"It's not like that. She's been my lawyer," figuring the circumstances couldn't get any worse, Freddy decided to just plow through, "She's been helping me with this mess. And she told me I should, you know, try to talk to you."

"Well, Hathaway always has had _quite_ the intellect."

"Yeah, I guess if you're a lawyer…"

There was yet another silence hanging there, thick.

And then, Michelle thought of one of the greatest schemes she had ever thought of before. And there had been some pretty intense schemes in her past.

"Well she was right."

"Excuse me?"

"Our little Tink was right."

"Michelle…what're you saying to me?" Freddy stood up and stared at her.

"Well, Freddy Jones, consider the charges dropped."

A/N WHOA BABY. Honestly, for my standards, this is freaking long. And I mean long. Hahaa. So, my reasoning for lack of updates: I had surgery, which was a 4-6 week recovering thing, and so I really wasn't into updating much in that time. And then my volleyball conditioning and tryouts and now its practices, so basically, I've been pretty busy. But I decided to sit down and try to write a bit today, and I ended up writing this entire chapter! And I had also intended to put Michelle's 'scheme' in this one, but it got so long without it, I'll save it until next chapter. But the next one might be pretty short because I want to leave a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. So, thanks for reading, and please review.

**And to those who may think I'm taking the easy way out by just dropping the charges and not doing a court scene:** I've intended almost from the very beginning to have the charges dropped in some way. After all, I've never been in a courtroom myself, aside from me being an avid Law & Order fan, and frankly, doing research on this sort of thing wouldn't exactly be something I'd enjoy. So about eight or nine chapters ago, I decided to just have the charges be dropped. I'm sorry if you find it predictable, but unfortunately, this is my story, not yours, and this is how I want it to be. Also, please excuse any sort of errors. For some reason I have trouble with tenses and I can never figure out what form of a word to use. But you've probably already noticed that by now, haha. And to those who want to, reviews are always appreciated. ( :


	16. Gained Perspective

**PLEASE READ THIS** A huuuuge ass thanks to everyone who's stuck with me from the start and the people who are just starting to read this story. It's practically taking a lifetime, but it'll get there. I feel like my writing style has changed and this story just isn't me anymore. But it would be unfair of me to leave whatever readers that are left hanging, like so many other writers did to me in all of the years I've been reading fan fiction. So I'm really going to try my best to hatch out the details, because I know how it's ending it's just the matter of ever getting there…

And I know self-deprecation is obnoxious and unattractive, but I honestly feel like this is one of my worst chapters. The end gets a tad better, but it's unrealistic, cliché and just all around annoying to read. Hopefully I've just been staring at the screen for too long and I don't disappoint whatever leaders are left?

**Be warned of the swearing, as usual!**

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 16 - Gained Perspective

"Dude, stop smiling, it's making me sick. We used to be in a rock band, for God's sake, no one that was once in a rock band is this happy, have some respect, bastard. It's disgusting." Zack too smiled, to indicate he was just joking with his best friend.

Even if he wasn't joking, Freddy Jones would have simply ignored it. Freddy Jones would have ignored it simply because he _was_ happy. The planets are all aligned and Freddy Jones is finally coming out on top. Freddy Jones is loving life, and for once, life is returning the love full force.

"Zack, I haven't felt this way in so long! It's like I know everything is gonna turn out okay! What's this emotion called? I don't even remember it!" Freddy joked.

Zack finished chewing the bite of his vendor hot dog in his mouth, a thoughtful look resting upon his face. "Well Freddy, I believe it's called hope. Either that or you're on another experimental drug, and we all remember how badly that turned out in high school…"

Ignoring the comment, Freddy pushed Zack onto a nearby park bench and knelt before him on one knee. "I'm gonna ask her to marry me, and we'll be a family, it'll so fucking cute, you won't believe, man. Me, a husband and a dad, now that's hilarious." Two women walked by holding hands and thumped Freddy on the back, "Right on, man!" They smiled as they walked off, and Freddy quickly scrambled up to sit on the bench next to Zack.

When they were finished laughing, Zack wiped the tears from his eyes and also gave Freddy a thump on the back. "You're not my type anyway…way too pretty boy for me," at Freddy's eye roll Zack continued, "anyway congrats man, it's been a long time coming and I'm so happy for you."

Freddy's smile widened, "Thanks, bro."

"Come to think of it, I'm happy for myself, this entire situation has been giving me premature wrinkling."

"Oh well damn, I'm so sorry me finding out I'm a father after five years has been so hard on you," Freddy gave Zack a punch to the gut.

He shuffled away like a boxer, "Hmm, maybe a little premature beer gut, too, huh?"

Zack launched himself at his best friend, "Oh, don't _even_ go there Freddy, I could kill you!" With that, Zack sent a punch to Freddy's shoulder.

They continued on for a few more minutes, fighting like ten year olds through Central Park, narrowly missing another hot dog stand. The playful jabs and insults continued to fly until the two were interrupted by a voice neither man had heard for a while.

"That is so like you to fight in public, _so rock and roll_!" Zack and Freddy straightened themselves up long enough to see Dewey Finn standing in front of them, hot dog in one hand, Rosalie Mullins' hand in the other.

"Yeah, and it's so like _you_ to be eating!" Freddy exclaimed, rushing over to give his former teacher a hug.

"Freddy Jones…still the same kid I knew and never loved."

"Aw, and Dewey Finn, still the same fat ass who could never love anyone as much as he could love a turkey sub!"

With the sound of a throat being cleared, Freddy quickly corrected himself, "oh, and Miss Mullins, of course."

"Mrs. Finn now, Frederick," Rosalie smiled, returning Freddy's hug.

Zack, who had been hugging Dewey, pulled back from him and held him at arms length. "No shit! You two got married?"

Dewey smiled in a way only a man truly in love could and re-grasped his wife's hand. "I know man, she finally tamed the wild stallion. Thought it was about time to settle down…a guy can only live a badass life for so long. Just a little over a year ago, right, Ros? Real pretty ceremony thing, spur of the moment when Ned and I were playing a small gig in Mexico. Let me tell you, getting married in a country where you can't find anyone who speaks your language is a bitch, but the honeymoon is so worth it, am I right, or am I right?" he turned toward his wife and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh Dewey, stop it!" Rosalie exclaimed as she slapped him lightly. It was obvious though as she blushed that no matter what Mrs. Finn said, she was head over heels for her husband.

"Well I'm really happy for ya, man. I do have to say I never thought the day would come…seeing you married."

"Well we would've liked for everyone to be there…but we know things got a little…crazy." Dewey attempted to steal a secret look at Zack, who nodded.

"Oh, you mean crazy like my high school girlfriend was pregnant and no one bothered to let me know?" Freddy joked, already almost over the sting of being kept in the dark. He was starting to understand. Just because his old friends kept their promises to Summer didn't mean they didn't still _want_ to tell him. Not only that, they were really doing what was best for Rae, regardless of the fact she needed a father in her life. He wasn't ready to be a father that, not mature enough. It hurt Freddy that he didn't know about his child until she was five years old, but it would only hurt him more if he continued to dwell on it further. It made him feel even stupider. Or more stupid. Whichever.

"Yikes…about that," Dewey smiled warmly, "Freddy, dude you know if it was up to me you would've known first thing. But you know Tinkerbell, man, she is _in control_. You can't even imagine my reaction when she told me, I'm nothing but a screw up and even I was shocked. It was no easy thing for me to get over…my little baby Tinkerbell having sex…and with you. Ugh," he shuddered.

He and Rosalie sat together on a bench and Freddy quickly sat on Dewey's other side, eager to hear a story that so far, no one had been willing to tell. It was like a morbid fascination. Like seeing a dead animal carcass in the middle of a busy intersection, you don't want to look but you have a sick wonderment, just guessing what it looks like. He wanted, not just wanted, but needed to know how Summer did it, how she managed to support Rae for five years without him. Maybe a part of him wanted to know how hard it was, how she struggled without him, always missing him. Maybe he even wanted to hear she went into a downward spiral and struggled with drugs or alcohol, so much so that someone else had to take care of Rae. Maybe he just wanted to think that everyday she waited for him, regretting her decision the way he regretted his.

Or maybe he just wanted to hear how strong she was so he could fall in love with her all over again.

"Dewey, I need you to tell me about it."

Dewey didn't argue, just sat for a minute, seeming to collect his thoughts. "Well, you know I like the dramatics, but for your sake I'll try and tone it down. What with the personal connection to the heroine of our story and what not." Without waiting for a reply, Dewey started to tell Freddy exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Summer was a mess. She tried to keep it a secret for as long as she could but pretty soon it was obvious. After you left everyone was committed to trying to make the band work, trying to find a replacement. So of course, to forget about you, Summer threw herself into the work as usual. But then it got to a point where she wouldn't show up to rehearsals, or we would have drummer auditions scheduled and "something would come up." Everyone knew she missed you but when we finally found your replacement and had our first gig, she didn't show up. And she's the manager. She _always_ shows up. I don't even know who got it out of her eventually or how, but it was assumed you were the father and it was strictly enforced that you were not to be told. She's a pistol that one…to this day the strongest person I know without a doubt, a title you know I would like to give myself but just can't.

Summer tried to tell us you just didn't want the baby, but we knew better. She didn't like to feel careless and irresponsible but she did. I can't say this for everyone, but for me, those nine months, they were hard. Watching Summer go through that, her parents being absolute fucks over it, hardly giving her help, it was hard. But we were all there for her, the way we knew you would've been. When Rae was finally born, it was like a light that had been on a timer finally remembered to turn on, and our old Tink was back. Granted, she was a little more controlling, if that's possible, with a kid but she was still Summer.

Her parents decide that it was appropriate to continue to pay for her schooling and law degree, but wanted no part in providing for Rae. At that point the band was broken up and most of us had gone our separate ways. Ned, Zack, Katie, Larry and I stuck around and helped her out from time to time with whatever she needed, baby sitters, groceries, extra money she always paid back with interest…she's fucking tough man, and she always said what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. To this day I honestly don't think she regrets any of her decisions. Rae is such a good kid its nauseating." Dewey finished his speech with a long belch and a pat to his stomach, his attempt to lighten the mood after the emotional baggage he just unloaded on Freddy

Who was handling the story pretty well considering it was pretty incriminating for him. But truly, all he could think of was how lucky he was that he fell in love with Summer, a woman with such an amazing head on her shoulders. She was stronger than anyone Freddy knew either.

"Well, Ros and I were gonna go try and get a visit in with Summer and Rae before we left to go visit her parents in Stamford tomorrow, maybe you can lead us the way? If you and Summer are on speaking terms, I feel pretty out of touch. I assumed that since you knew about Rae and look all lovey dovey when I talked about Summer that you and her have at least slightly reconciled?"

Zack wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "More than slightly!"

"Ugh, dude, go easy on me it's like learning my little sister is doing my best friend, not cool, not cool at all!" Dewey yelled as he, his wife and two old friends walked towards Summer's apartment.

-:-

As they neared the apartment, he decided to part ways to let Katie know their friends were in town and wanted to get dinner later that night. Freddy continued to question his judgment on agreeing with Dewey, "It'll be fun to just surprise Summer! Don't call her first!"

He banged on the door when they finally arrived, deciding he should at least let her know somehow. "SUMMER! Dewey and Miss Mullins are here! They wanna see Rae, they say it's been at least two years!" he yelled through the door, as loud as possible.

The door swung open, and as soon as Freddy set his eyes on Summer, the butterflies he always felt in his stomach when he saw her instantly began fluttering at warp speed. She raised her eyebrows, a look on her face Freddy couldn't quite place where he had seen it before. Confusion, sadness, a little anger…

"Freddy, we need to talk."

And then he remembered where he had seen the look before. It sat on Summer's face the day he said goodbye to her for the last time more than five years ago.

AN **Wow, so if you haven't done so, read the authors note at the beginning please. **So we got a little background in this chapter…did you enjoy it? Wish you could have the ten-ish minutes it took you to read back? Let me know in a review, I'd really appreciate it!

Next chapter we kind of go back in time a few hours and find out what Summer's been doing this whole time and what's gotten her so upset… As always, thanks for reading, sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes (I always try to catch them to no avail) and review review reviewww!

Annie : )


	17. Waiting

I don't even know how to be the girl who started this story. I have to finish, though. I just have to. I can't even bring myself to read the previous chapters, so fuck continuity, nothing's going to make sense but I have to finish this. I was TWELVE when I started this story. I can't even fathom what was going through my mind then, I used to live and breathe School of Rock fanfiction. I don't even know if anyone who used to read this is out there. But I'm going to college in August and I have the strangest feeling that I can't let go of my childhood until I've finished this fucking fanfiction. So here goes, the second to last chapter, and so help me GOD I will be back with the last chapter in the next few weeks...and to anyone who does read this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Past Mistakes and Present Problems

Chapter 17 - Waiting

Summer knew it had to be done. In order to dissolve a court case, in order to convince someone to drop charges, the lawyer had to actually come face to face with the accuser. She just wished that the accuser wasn't the ex-wife of her child's father. She just wished it didn't sound like the plot to an episode of Days of Our Lives. This has to be done, this has to be done, this has to be done, she repeated to herself as she stood at the front door. Granted, she wished Freddy could have handled it when she asked him to, but you can't ask so much out of a person who is used to taking care of only himself. He's doing great, I just need to be patient. He's been everything I never thought he could be. Summer marveled at her neurotic ability to talk herself to the edge of a cliff, and the mere mention of Freddy could bring her back to earth. She realized that feeling must be what true love feels like. True love means doing everything it takes, no matter what. True love means showing up to Michelle Green's front door in order to do some serious groveling.

She rang the doorbell, and after waiting a few minutes she realized no one was going to answer. Shouldn't she have a maid somewhere, who's sole job description is door answering? She tapped her foot and checked her Blackberry (three times), before she finally heard it. Somewhere in the back of the house, she heard a shrill, unbearable giggle and a nervous laugh follow it. Summer recognized that giggle from somewhere deep in her memory. More importantly, she recognized the laugh from a place of great importance, somewhere very current. She couldn't believe it, but then again, yes she could.

After all, Summer was always underestimating Freddy. She thought he couldn't be responsible, he could; she thought he couldn't be a father, he could; she thought he couldn't handle facing Michelle one last time, he could. As she heard the distant sounds of Michelle and Freddy talking, she was conscious of the most indescribable feeling of happiness spreading from her hairline to her toes. Despite the constant reassurances of Freddy's devotion to her over the past few weeks, Summer couldn't just stop being Summer Hathaway: Pessimist, and completely disregard the pain of the past five years. Knowing Freddy's disdain for Michelle, but hearing him talk with her civilly, made Summer wholly aware of how Freddy felt about her.

Just because she trusts him with her life doesn't mean she trusts him with his own, so she knew it was necessary to eavesdrop a little, just to make sure he was saying the right things at the right time. Michelle can be tricky, Summer knew that more than almost anyone, having dealt with all of her bullshit during the School of Rock era.

After establishing that the ex-spouses were on the back patio, Summer boosted herself over the fence that kept the common riffraff out of the proximity of Michelle's home and headed towards the backyard. Her steps could only be described as jaunty, as she jumped from rock to rock on the path that led to the back, enjoying the last few moments of sunshine before the sun set. The grass was green, the sky was orange and all signs pointed to a happy ending.

Her voice cut through the air, stopping Summer dead in her tracks. "Freddy? Come on, for old times sake, don't you want to?" Even from her detrimental angle, Summer could see how gorgeous Michelle had become, how she was even more beautiful. How she was sitting on her boyfriend's lap, practically panting.

Summer knew that he couldn't, that he wouldn't, not ever. But instead of reassuring herself and turning away, she found her feet were cemented to the concrete. Her eyes were glued to the two bodies pressed together, one her favorite person in the world and one her least. She managed to blink, twice, but opening her eyes made matters worse. They were kissing. She was kissing, he was kissing back, and he was breaking everything. Summer pushed herself further into the wall, hating herself for watching but she knew she would hate herself even more if she were too cowardly to stay. They kissed for an eternity, and when it was finally over, Summer felt fuzzy. Michelle and Freddy were speaking to each other but all she heard was a flatline screeching inside her ears.

"It's not like that. She's been my lawyer. She's been helping me with this mess." Beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeep.

She stayed long enough to hear the charges were dropped. The chargers were dropped, her heart was dropped, and she was gone.

"Katie, do you think I'll ever have what you and Zack have?" Summer felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest, but your own feelings matter very little when you have a whole other person to take care of. Rae, who had spent the day playing with Jacob, sat at the table, coloring.

The question took Katie by surprise, seeing as how the last time she had spoken to Summer she was falling more in love with Freddy every minute. The current look on her face suggested otherwise, as she ripped a paper napkin into smaller and smaller pieces. "I just mean, like, are you guys really lucky, or am I really unlucky? Or do I do this to myself?"

The greatest thing about Katie Mooneyham was that she always waited. She had an insurmountable amount of patience, which was a quality Summer greatly admired, especially when she couldn't quite find the words she wanted right away. Like always, Katie waited for her friend to locate the right sounds to describe what was wrong. Summer made a desperate glance in her daughter's direction, hoping to convey her reluctance to speak freely about the problem. She tried again to explain herself without revealing what was wrong to the child.

"I just think...if you really want something to happen. Like you want it so bad. It just should. Doesn't that seem fair? Doesn't it seem reasonable that a girl who does so many things right should want something right in return?"

"Yes, I think it's absolutely fair. Summer, you deserve more right things than anyone I know."

Summer continued to rip the napkin, using the careless movements as a way to ground herself to the awareness that things really were finished. The smaller the shreds became, the less she felt. "Then why..." she couldn't seem to pinpoint the phrases she wanted, "then why don't I...have them?"

Katie hardly hesitated in her answer. "Things are so fucked up, Tink." Rae looked up from her coloring book, eyes wide at the opportunity to exploit her aunt for using such an awful curse word but a look from Katie completely silenced her. "There are so many unexplainable things in this world, but sometimes the most important things are the ones that seem to mean so little."

She understood without being told that this conversation was about Freddy. More importantly, she understood that whatever had been happening wasn't anymore, and it wasn't through the fault of Summer.

"They mean little to some people, you mean. The most important things are most important to one person, but to another, they could mean nothing." The pieces continued to become smaller and smaller.

"I think they always mean something. Whatever that something is, I don't have a damn clue. But it's not nothing...it's never nothing."

Summer knew her friend was trying to help, and if this hadn't been about Freddy, it would have. Had they been discussing a breakup with Stuart, Summer would have smiled and recognized that sometimes things really don't work. But as Summer packed up Rae's things and grabbed her hand as they headed out the door, she couldn't help but whisper over her shoulder, "I wanted it to work so badly. I needed it to."

She got home and waited. Whether she was waiting for Freddy or simply waiting for things to make sense, she did it anyway. After tucking Rae in to bed, Summer played countless situations over in her head, imagining him.

He would stumble in, drunk, completely torn up about what he had done, unable to live with his guilty conscious. He would come home, kiss her on the cheek, and head to the kitchen to make a sandwich as if nothing had happened. He would come home, reserved and quiet, waiting for her to ask what was wrong. He would bring Michelle. He would tell her he never loved her. He would tell her he never loved Michelle. He wouldn't come home at all.

She didn't imagine the situation that actually occurred, she didn't think he would show up with her former teacher and principal banging on the door. She didn't think he would have the most beautiful smile she had ever seen perched on his face, reaching all the way to his ears, crinkling his eyes at their corners. She didn't imagine how proud he would look, how he would stand so tall, in between his mentors, looking as though he had just won a war. Maybe he had. Maybe he had been struggling with the decision between Michelle and Summer for ages, and finally a side had won. And one had lost. But the smile on Freddy's face made her heart melt and for a split second she smiled back, but her memory returned and her face formed into a grimace she hadn't felt herself make in over five years.

Dewey and Rosalie saw it too, and after exchanging a quick promise to return another time when Rae wasn't asleep, they were gone and all that was left was a thick silence as both Summer and Freddy waited for the other to speak.

He went first, "I got the charges dropped."

"So I heard." His eyebrows went up in confusion but she continued, "How could you do this to me? No-I guess I understand you doing this to me, after all I kept you in the dark for five years, fair is fair. But to Rae? How could you do this to her? She loves you."

The interesting thing about being absolutely in love with a person is never needing things to be explained. Freddy didn't know how she knew, but he instantly realized Summer had seen at least some of his interaction with Michelle.

"Sum, I don't know what you think you saw but, never. No way." He took a desperate step towards her, but she had already taken one backwards before he was still again.

"Freddy, honestly, I saw it all-"

"What did you see?" He knew he could explain everything, and after a bit of teasing her for actually thinking he would cheat on her, everything would be dropped.

"I saw you kissing her. It's okay, lying will make it worse. I'm a lawyer, I know better than anyone that a lie can make it worse."

"Or a lie can make all the difference. It can save someone."

"It's too late to be saved, Jones. I don't blame you for choosing her. I guess you could say that I'm a little confused but you don't owe me anything, let alone an explanation. I told myself five years ago that letting you in on all of this would be a mistake and now I'm paying for it. No strings attached, you're off the hook." She leaned against the wall and watched as her words hit him with the force of a tsunami. She unconsciously hoped to inflict half the pain he made her feel.

"No strings attached...Summer, are you willing to let this go so easily? We have a child."

"No, Freddy. I have a child. You are one." Summer said this so quickly it was as if she had always prepared the line, it had always hovered under the surface of her tongue, waiting for the chance to reveal itself.

Freddy was speaking so fast now, everything he said had a sense of urgency. "I wasn't kissing her. I did kiss her, but not romantically. It was like an experiment...I kissed her-she kissed me-and I realized I never want to kiss anyone else but you. Summer, you're the love of my life. One of them anyway."

"One of them."

"You and Rae, my two girls. Please don't be like this, you're everything to me and I used to be stupid like that but I'm not anymore. You taught me how to grow up in such a short span, but it was time and I'm a better man for it. You have to realize I wouldn't ever do this."

Summer didn't know what to believe. She wanted to believe the new him but she had known the old one much longer. She hadn't taught him anything, she had ordered him around until he was able to predict what she would want. He memorized at best, he didn't learn how to be a man.

"No, Freddy, you're a hopeless imitation of a man, and I can't wait forever."

"I would wait a lifetime...I would wait for you." He tried to grab for her hand as she walked past him but she was too quick, and before he could say anything else she was holding the door open for him.

"Luckily, you don't have to."

Freddy walked out the door and only then did Summer allow herself to cry.


End file.
